


High School Story

by BlinkOnceHN



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 18:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 33,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21342565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlinkOnceHN/pseuds/BlinkOnceHN
Summary: A socially awkward student finds herself transferring to a new school after her family moved to Korea. She meets 17 other girls who will make the following 3 years the best time of her life.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi, Chou Tzuyu/Minatozaki Sana, Hirai Momo/Myoui Mina, Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Jennie Kim/Kim Jisoo, Kim Dahyun/Son Chaeyoung, Kim Yerim | Yeri/Park Sooyoung | Joy, Lalisa Manoban | Lisa/Park Chaeyoung | Rosé, Park Jisoo | Jihyo/Son Seungwan | Wendy
Kudos: 27





	1. First Day

"Beep...Beep...Beep"

"Ugh...Is it morning already?" I groan as I try to flip over and turn off my alarm. I look at the clock and it's only 6 am in the morning. I sigh when I remember that this is the first day of school for me. Great, I have already been through the whole process of making friends back in my old place and now I will have to do it all over again with new people. I may as well get started or else I would be late.

I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Chou Tzuyu, I'm originally from Taiwan and I have just moved to Korea because my dad found a new job here. I'm about to enter YJM high school and if you can't tell, I'm not that excited, I'm nervous as hell. I'm worried whether my classmates will like me, are the teachers cool and not - excuse my language - a bit of a bitch or will there be any bullies. Too many things are going through my head at once.

Anyway, I quickly finish my morning routine and come downstairs to have breakfast. My parents have already left for work and Mom has already made me some bacon and eggs. She left a note saying: "We're off to work sweetheart, tell us all about your first day, just be yourself, everything will be alright. Love - Mom and Dad". I sit down at the table and hurriedly eating my breakfast. By the time I finish, I still have 30 minutes until school starts. I went upstairs and change into a white blouse with black jeans, red jacket and white sneakers. I think that's presentable enough.

I got to school 15 minutes early and the place is absolutely packed, students running around finding their homeroom, the headmaster office and all that. People are literally running into each other and I just stand there looking like a deer in front of headlights. Then suddenly someone tap my shoulder. I turn around and see a girl waving her hands in front of my face trying to draw my attention. 'She's pretty', I thought. She has these big eyes and a bright smile on her face.

"Hey there, hello?" She said with a loud voice.

"Oh, hi, sorry, I guess I was spacing out" I replied, a bit embarrassed.

"That's OK, what are you looking for, I can help you"

"Umm, I'm looking for the headmaster office, it's where you get the uniform and your schedules, right?"

"Yes, follow me, I'll help you, I have just been there" She happily answered and then starts walking fast making me jog to catch up to her.

"So, are you a senior, you seem to know the place pretty well." I asked.

She chuckled "No, this is my first day too, but I have visited the school beforehand so as not to get caught up in all this madness you're seeing."

"Oh, I haven't got your name, I'm Tzuyu, Chou Tzuyu. I just transfer here from Taiwan." I mentally pay myself on the back, I finally work up the courage to introduce myself to someone.

"Oh, sorry I didn't introduce myself, I'm Park Jihyo, I hope we can be great friends." The short-haired girl chirped happily. "Here we are, Mr. Park's room, get in there, I'll wait out here."

"Okay." I went in and the headmaster greets me with a bright smile.

"Have a seat, Ms." He hesitated

"Tzuyu, Chou Tzuyu"

"Oh, okay" Mr. Park said as he is searching my details on the computer. "So, you have just moved here, our school take the students' well-being very seriously, so if you have any trouble, if you need any help, feel free to ask me or the other teachers, understood?"

"Yes, sir" I cautiously replied.

"Good, here are your uniforms and this is your schedule, a copy has also been sent to your email. I wish you all the best of luck with your time here."

"Thank you Mr. Park" I said then step out to the hallway, Jihyo is sitting on the row of chairs in front of the office waiting for me.

"You're done? What is your homeroom, let me help you there"

"Umm, let me see, it's room 16"

"SIXTEEN? THAT'S THE SAM.." Her phone suddenly rings, interrupting her borderline yelling. "Uh huh, yes I'll be right there." She answers the phone. "It's my Mom, she's bringing me some stuff, you just go to floor 1 and turn left, it's the very last room. I'll find you at lunch. Bye"

"Bye" I say as she rushes off. After a few minutes I have finally found my homeroom and three girls have arrived already. One of them is leaning on the wall, sleeping, there's a tomboy-ish girl sitting in the back and the last one is a girl with bunny teeth sitting on the front row. I breath slowly and motivate myself.

_'Here we go'_


	2. Impressions

Well, that was a lie. "Here we go" I mumble silently, annoyed with myself. I'm still standing outside the classroom, waiting for something that I'm not even sure, I'm just too anxious to go in. While I'm creeping outside, a few other girls have arrived, some of them just walk pass me, the others give me a strange look then just left me be. '_Might as well just wait for teacher.' _ I tell myself and keep waiting outside.

I look into the classroom once in a while, it's a pretty small room, there's only 9 desks in total, each desk is for 2 people, so I guess my class is going to have 18. By the time I look in, there's only 4 seats left, class is about to start any minute now. Just a little more and there will be a teacher to save me from my misery.

And then after what feels like hours, a girl run to where I'm standing and hold on the railing of the hallway. She's breathing heavily, seems like she's been running all the way here. "Am I late?" She asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"No, the teacher haven't come, but it's almost time though" I answered, hoping to calm her down a bit.

"Oh, great, I thought I'm late on my first day" She said, relieved, then she turns to me. "Why are you still out here, the others are inside already?"

"Well, I'm a bit anxious to go in, I don't know anyone, I'm trying to wait for our teacher."

She chuckled "Come on, there's nothing to be scared, I only know one person in this whole school anyway and I don't even know if she's in the same class as I. But look at me, keep your head up, breath and just be yourself, people don't bite. And look on the bright side, you have a new friend, me! I'm Kim Jisoo, what's your name?" She holds out her hand.

"I'm Chou Tzuyu, I moved here from Taiwan, nice to meet you!" I excitedly shake her hand.

"Come, go in with me" She hooks her arm with mine and lead me in the classroom. Some girls glance up and look at us for a second then turn back to their stuff. Then someone stands up from the middle desk and runs to hug Jisoo.

"CHU!" That girl envelops Jisoo in a huge bear hug "We're in the same class!"

Jisoo immediately hugs back and exclaim "Seul, that's great, we can mess with the teachers for 3 whole years together." They laughed out loud. Seul notices me and holds out her hand "Hello, I'm Kang Seulgi, I see you have already made friends with Jisoo here"

"Chou Tzuyu, nice to meet you too."

"Tzuyu here is too scared to come in the classroom so I have to take her, what a big baby!" Jisoo teases me and makes little baby noises while trying to pinch my cheeks. "Seul, I think I'm gonna sit with Tzuyu here, I don't want to leave her alone, maybe we can switch seats later."

"Yeah, that's okay"

"No, you guys can sit with each other, I don't want to separate you."

"Are you sure you're okay by yourself?" Jisoo asks, concerned.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay"

"If you're sure" Jisoo and Seulgi then take their seats in the middle desk of the second row.

I look around, trying to find myself a decent place to sit, then I decide to sit on the front row, next to the door so I can look out the window and also watch when the teachers are coming. When I sit down, the girl next to me immediately turns around and flashes me a huge smile, showing her bunny teeth. "Hi there, new deskmate, finally someone chooses to sit with me. What's your name?"

"Chou Tzuyu, nice to meet you, err, deskmate, and you are?"

"Im Nayeon, but you can call me the prettiest girl of the school."

"Excuse that narcissistic bunny, she does that a lot." The sleeping girl behind me finally wakes up "Hirai Momo, nice to meet you Tzuyu"

"YAH!" Nayeon pouts and scoffs at Momo, meanwhile Momo just shrugs and turns to me and makes small talk. I learn that she absolutely loves 2 things in this whole world: dancing and jokbal.

Then, our talks are interrupted by the door opening, a man, who I assume is our homeroom teacher, walks in to the class with Jihyo in tow. _'Wait, Jihyo?!' _ She notices me and gives me a small wave.

"Hi class, I am your homeroom teacher for this school year, my name is Kwon Ji Yong, you can call me Mr. Kwon." We look at him curiously, he has quite a unique (and expensive, may I add) sense of fashion, he is wearing a floral shirt with an also floral jacket with white jeans, sandals and a beanie, all made from Gucci. He continues "And also, Park Jihyo here will be your monitor, the school assign the monitor for each class based on your achievements and experiences, I hope you don't mind. And, any questions?"

A girl raises her hand "Hi Mr. Kwon, I'm Myoui Mina, I have 2 questions, 3 actually, first one is are we studying any thing today, I don't have any books here with me just yet and secondly, is that Gucci sir and where did you buy that jacket, I've been looking everywhere for it." The class snickers.

Mr. Kwon chuckled "First question, no, today is only for you to get to know each other and also sign up to your favorite clubs and activities, secondly, New York. Any more questions?" Everyone is silent.

"Great, let's get started, shall we."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter has too many repetitive lines, I want to introduce all of the characters first, then we'll get into the main parts so bear with me.
> 
> Have a nice day, readers.


	3. The Game

When Mr. Kwon is about to continue, the door suddenly opens revealing a girl who is breathing heavily. "I'm sorry sir, I'm late!"

"That's okay, we were just getting started, take a seat." The said girl then takes her seat at the middle desk of the front row, next to the one who has been drawing something on her notepad the entire time."

Mr. Kwon continues "To get you started, why don't you get to know each other first? But we're not doing the introduction one by one, I'm thinking about something way more exciting. You're going to play "Never have I ever" or at least something like that. " We look at him, confused, then he starts explaining.

"So each of you will take turn to ask the whole class a question, if your answer is yes, you will stand up and introduce your name. Everyone got it?" We all nod. "Good, Jihyo, why don't you start with the first question?"

"Yes, Mr. Kwon. Ummm, Stand up if you're not originally from Korea."

I stand up and start looking around, there are five others who are also standing with me. The girl in the corner, I remembered her name is Mina, starts introducing herself. "My name is Myoui Mina, you may have known it already when I asked Mr. Kwon about the jacket earlier. I'm from Japan. And I love playing games, ballet, penguins and ketchup."

Momo is the next one to talk "Hello hello, I'm Hirai Momo, I'm also from Japan, I love eating, especially jokbal, sleeping and most importantly dancing. Also, call me Mina, we can dance together." She says to Mina with a wink. I can see a slight blush is creeping on Mina's cheeks, then she answers "We'll have to see how you stack up against me then."

"Alright, no flirting, girls. At least not just yet, but I think we can expect a dance battle coming." Mr. Kwon interrupts.

Momo whispers to me "She's feisty, just my type." I chuckle lightly with her.

Then it's my turn "Hi everyone, I'm Chou Tzuyu. I moved here from Taiwan. I love dogs in general. And I hope we can be great friends."

Next up is the girl sitting at the back "Wassup wassup, I'm Lalisa Manoban, you can call me Lisa. I'm from Thailand. I love photography and rapping."

And lastly, oh, my, God. I think my heart just stop and my mouth is hanging open. The girl who sits next to Mina, is currently introducing herself and she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. It's like everything is moving in slow motion while she is talking. Then Nayeon suddenly snaps her finger in front of my face "Tzuyu, hello, you there?"

"Yes, what's up?" I said, still trying to snap out of my trance earlier.

"Yah, I've been calling you for minutes now and you keep staring at the girl." She said, shaking her head.

"Sorry, umm, what's her name?" I hesitantly asked.

"Oh my God, Tzuyu, you weren't even listening? Well, her name is Minatozaki Sana, she's from Japan, Mina's best friend, really clumsy and love dogs. Hey, at least you got one thing in common, try to get to know her more."

"Well I'll try, as you can see I'm not actually good at stuff like that."

"Just try, who knows what's gonna happen, maybe her type is stoic expressions" I glares at her. "With all seriousness though, if you didn't try, you would never know how it will work out. It's not like you're courting her immediately, just get to know her and be her friend. You can ask me if you need any advice."

The game continues for another hour with many strange questions from the others like "have you ever challenged an animal to a fight" and turns out Jisoo once challenged a bunch of butterflies and she lost because she was outnumbered by them or "have you ever dyed your hair more than 10 colors in your entire life?" and a girl named Dahyun, whose her color is now mint-ish, is the only one in the class to have done so.

There are also a few other interesting things that happen, Momo and Mina keep stealing glances at each other, Jisoo have talked to the girl was late earlier, her name is Jennie and now Jisoo is pinching the latter's cheeks while saying they look like dumplings. Mr. Kwon has his share of recognition, he now knows the troublemakers of the class, which is the satanic duo Yeri and Joy, who admit that they have pulled multiple pranks on their old teachers. Nayeon, who makes fun of me for staring at Sana earlier, has now taken a liking to the tomboy girl named Jeongyeon. She still denies it, saying the other looks like an ostrich, but the way she's giving the said 'ostrich' heart eyes tells me otherwise. There are two girls who share the same name, the artistic one Son Chaeyoung and the one with Aussie accent Park Chaeyoung, who we know refers to as Rosé. Jihyo is now talking to Irene, who will be helping her monitoring the class in case she's absent.

Mr. Kwon claps his hand to gather our attention "So girls, after this class is lunch time, then after lunch you can go to the orientation fair to get to know about the clubs and activities of this year. There will be a surprise waiting for you there. I haven't asked you any questions in the game yet, so do you mind if I ask the last one before we stop?" We all shrug "Good, I have seen a few things happening throughout the game, especially you Momo, so the last question is 'Never have I ever checked out a fellow classmate in this classroom'"

I slowly stand up and start looking around, hoping that someone else is standing with me. Then everyone smirks.

Mr. Kwon laughs "Well, good luck, girls."

The whole classroom are standing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that is chapter 3, this will end the whole introduction part, I will get into main story from the next chapter.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this story, since my writing is not that compelling and the story isn't that interesting yet.
> 
> Have a good day, readers.


	4. Lunch And Tension

OK, great, Mr. Kwon's question just confirmed my suspicion. Apparently all of us are gay, some are pretty obvious to be honest, but all of us? My high school years have just gone from good to amazing. Being surrounded by people who are fun, quirky and capable of understanding my feelings. I have a feeling I'm going to meet the best people in my life here. Class has just ended and now I'm walking to the cafeteria with Nayeon. Momo and Rosé have already gone there to grab our seats.

"So, what club will you consider joining Tzuyu?" Nayeon asks.

"I don't know yet, I'm gonna make the most of today, I'm getting to know everyone and visiting the stalls of the clubs."

"Great, but I'm starving, come on let's go"

When we arrive at the cafeteria, the place is already packed and we see Rosé waving at us from the table at the back. Momo is busy stuffing her face while Rosé greets us.

"How nice of you two, you order the food for us already." Nayeon said, while reaching for a steam mandu with her chopsticks.

Momo quickly hit Nayeon's hand making her drop the mandu "What do you mean, these are ours, go order your own." Nayeon and I glare at her then Rosé smacks Momo's head. "Don't be a brat Momo, these are for all of us, take a seat girls, I'm starving."

Rosé suddenly speaks up while we're eating "I heard there are a lot of things we can do, there's a dance club, photography, culinary, all that good stuff, they will be handing out admission forms at the fair later on. That will be our best chance to join"

"Mind if I join you?" Jihyo asks, carrying her food on a tray.

"Yeah sure" I scoot over to make some room for Jihyo. "I just finish helping Mr. Kwon with some stuff, I only manage to get a few things to eat, they're out of food for the day."

"We'll share with you, we ordered a lot." Rosé smiles at Jihyo, pushing some of the plates over to her. "We still haven't made up our mind on which club to join, how about you Jihyo?"

"Well, I asked Mr. Kwon about that surprise he mentioned earlier. He said that it would be our class' main concern this year. I want to see what it is before deciding on joining a club."

While the conversation is going, Momo doesn't pay much attention, instead she is looking at the table a few steps away from us. "What are you looking at Momo?" Nayeon notices this and follows Momo's gaze. The Japanese quickly averts her gaze, turns back to her food and flashes us a quick smile. "Nothing, what's up?". "You were looking at Mina again, weren't you?" Rosé smirks and wiggles her eyebrows at Momo. She raises her hands "Guilty as charged, but can you blame me?"

I look at Mina's table and she is sitting with Chaeyoung, Joy, Yeri and Sana. It seems that they are getting along well. "See, Tzuyu agrees, right Tzu?"

"Huh?" They caught me staring again. "Beautiful, right?" Momo continues to tease me. "You know she wasn't looking at Mina right, Mo?" Rosé asks. "I know, Sana's pretty cute herself, made in Japan, am I right?" I narrow my eyes at Momo "Did you just compliment yourself?"

"Well, confidence is important. Hey Tzu, I was thinking, later when we go to the fair, wanna join me? I plan to ask Mina and Sana to join us." I doubt her, Sana seems pretty quiet while Mina is also quiet, if not more than Sana and we barely talk to them, except for Momo's flirt attempt earlier in the game. But screw that, it never hurts to try.

At that moment, Jisoo, Seulgi, Irene and Jennie walks by our table and asks us if we want to visit the fair with them. Momo and I stay behind while the others join them. We eat for a few more minutes before walking over to Mina's table.

"Hi Myoui, have you finished eating?"

Mina slowly arranges her spoon and chopsticks and wipes her mouth before answering Momo. "I just finish, can I help you, Hirai?"

Sana and I exchange confused glances, she looks at me with brows furrowed and mouth slightly hanging open like asking me why are these two talking so formal like they're in a business meeting and when she is met my equally confused expression, she smiles a bit and points to seat opposite her, telling me to sit down because the two dorks here will probably take their time doing whatever it is they are doing. Sana fishes out her phone and starts scrolling, then she turns to me "You love dogs, right, wanna watch some videos of my dog to kill some time, these two here will take a few minutes. Mina has been very interested in Momo since the game."

I nod and she moves to sit next to me and plays a video of her shiba inu. "People always say I look like a shiba inu, that's why on my birthday last year, my parents got me this little boy."

We watch a few more videos and talk about little things here and there. She seems like a very friendly and bubbly person, sometimes she can get a little clingy, I don't know how but her arm has found its way in my hoodie pocket and it has been there quite some time now and her other arm is now resting on my thigh and we are sitting pretty close to each other, but hey, I won't complain.

**Third person's POV**

Mina and Momo has stopped their conversation since half an hour ago and they're now looking at their two friends laughing at dog videos.

They thought that no one was looking at them, but in reality, they're too deep in their own world to notice.

From afar, Nayeon, Jihyo and Rosé are also watching. They haven't left to the fair because Nayeon has to use the restroom and when she finished, she was met by the same scene that Momo and Mina are looking at.

Something is blooming in front of their eyes. They're not sure what it is. But it is something special.


	5. Orientation Fair

After an hour of dog videos and small talks, Tzuyu now finds herself walking in the fair with the J-trinity. The Taiwanese can't take her mind off of things that happened in the cafeteria. Sana sure is friendly and energetic and they barely know each other, but 10 minutes into watching videos, Tzuyu's attention shifted from the cute dogs to something cuter leaning on her while holding the phone. She didn't even remember what the dog did in the videos, the only thing she remembers is the little giggles from the blonde. Anyway, the group is in a discussion about dance club or gamer club. These two clubs are recruiting new members and Momo wants to dance while Mina is now contemplating between her love for the elegant dancing or competitive gaming. Mina is currently leaning towards gaming and Momo is having none of that.

"Come on Mina, how about our challenge earlier, join the dance club and we can have the dance off." Momo tries to persuade Mina.

"Well, that sounds great, but with the new computers and consoles in the gaming club and all the new games about to be released this year, I can imagine the tournaments already. It's gonna be so fun and intense. Besides, we can have the dance off without me joining the club, they have workshops and all that, if I got time I would practice with you." Mina reasons back.

"Can you just join both then?" Momo still hasn't given up.

"I can't Momo, being an official member of a club involves a lot of work and with that secret thing Mr. Kwon said earlier, I won't even have time to study." Mina puts her arm around Momo's shoulder, trying to cheer the other girl up. "Don't pout and give me those eyes, that's not gonna work on me and I'm not leaving you Hirai, cheer up."

Momo lights up a bit and drags Mina to the nearby food stalls. "You have to buy me something to eat then."

Sana and Tzuyu, however, didn't find it too difficult to choose their activities. Sana has just applied for the designing team of the environment club, she will be designing posters, editing videos and all that for their project. Tzuyu is now standing in front of the book club's stall, filling in the application form for the editor and translator position.

"This is a big position Tzuyu, you're gonna be very busy." Sana says, while peeking behind Tzuyu's back to read the job description.

"That's alright I guess, I know a fair few languages and I kinda want to keep myself busy, besides it's fun reading all the books from other countries." Tzuyu smiles at Sana and signs her name on the bottom of the paper. "So, what's next, we both chose our activities, what do you want to do?"

"Hmm, let's just walk around, there's a lot of food stalls here, I want to get something to eat."

"How about ice cream, my treat." Tzuyu walks to the ice cream stall, getting a strawberry one for Sana and a chocolate for herself. "Here you go." Sana smiles at Tzuyu and mumbles a small 'thank you'. The Taiwanese finds that very cute, and in her head she admits to herself that she has a minor crush on the blonde, but she don't want to rush it. Besides, being friends sounds good enough for her at the moment.

On the other side of the fair, Jihyo, Nayeon and Rosé have decided that they will wait for the special announcement before applying for any clubs because they don't want to overwork themselves right on the first year. Each of them is holding a thick stack of flyers from many different clubs to consider later. They are now heading near the photography club and culinary club. Nayeon is jogging towards the cooking club when she bumps into Jeongyeon, whom accidentally spills a few drops of her boba tea on Nayeon's shoes. The short-haired girl doesn't even notice that and keeps walking towards the stall, taking a flyer to read. Nayeon, as her usual mature self, chases after Jeongyeon and puts on her meanest face possible, which doesn't look that mean. She pulls Jeongyeon's shirt from behind and puts her hands on her hips. "Hey, you spilled your tea on my shoes earlier." Jeongyeon is certainly taken aback, but noticing the stains on the latter's shoes she quickly apologizes to Nayeon and flashes her an apologetic smile. Nayeon follows Jeongyeon to get herself a few flyers and she sees Jeongyeon filling in the application form. "Already registering, that's fast." Jeongyeon looks up and smiles a little. "Yeah, I have loved cooking ever since I was little. My dad owns a restaurant so cooking is an important part of my life. I just want to see if the school has a cooking club and I just register, it's almost a no brainer for me ."

"Do you think you're a good cook?" Nayeon asks, she wants to know more about Jeongyeon, since Jeongyeon didn't have a lot of opportunities to share anything during the game.

"Well, I'd like to think so. I've been cooking for my whole family for a year now and everything seems fine. If you'd like, I'll make you breakfast sometimes." Jeongyeon winks at Nayeon and turns around, walking away quickly.

"You'd better keep your word." Nayeon thinks why did Jeongyeon walks away that fast, then it dawns on her. "YAH! Yoo Jeongyeon!" Jeongyeon giggles and starts to run while Nayeon chases after her. "You were obviously excited for it. Don't blame me, bunny."

Meanwhile, Rosé makes her way to the photography club and picks up a few albums of the photos taken by the members. Then a figure approaches her and takes one of the albums to look as well. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Rosé looks up from the album. "Hi there, yeah, it is beautiful, they're good at these things, I kinda like taking pictures too, but I have a long way to go until I reach this level. How about you, Lisa?"

"Well, I'm not this level either, but I already signed up, learning from these guys will help me improve. Are you signing up?"

"No, not yet, I want to wait before I decide, I have a stack of flyers here from every single club."

Lisa nods slowly and points to somewhere in the sky. "Hey, what's that?" Rosé quickly looks over to where Lisa points then suddenly there's a camera flash next to her. Lisa smirks and checks her camera. "You're right Rosie, it is beautiful." Rosé can't hide the evident blush on her face and hides behind her hair. Lisa quickly tucks Rosie's hair on her ear. Suddenly she hears something. "Lisa, help me!" Lisa looks to where the scream comes from only to be knocked down by Jeongyeon who is being chased by an angry and blushing bunny. "Ouch, Jeong, what the hell?" Rosie is helping Lisa stand up and stop the chasing couple. At that moment, Jihyo has just come back from buying snacks. "Hey girls, let's move to the stage area, principal Park is about to announce something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna end this chapter right here, sorry for the absence of Red Velvet, their storylines will continue next chapter, there are still many more events at the fair.
> 
> Have a nice day, readers.


	6. Orientation Fair Pt.2

Chaeyoung is walking through the stalls of the fair looking for a certain club. She is clutching her notepad filled with many sketches of things she saw during her first day at the new school. From the colorful scenery of the fair, to the unique sense of fashion of Mr. Kwon. Above all that, she is now looking at the most beautiful thing she drew today, a picture of a certain girl. Jennie, who has been silently eating her cup of milk ice cream, is seriously concerned with Chaeyoung. "You know you haven't taken your eyes off that picture since the moment you drew that, right Chaeng?"

"Aish, I know, Jen, I lost her at lunchtime, haven't seen her since, I gotta find another chance. Right now I'm looking for the art club, have you seen it?"

"I think it's at the far end, let's keep going, I think I see Jisoo and Seulgi over there."

Chaeyoung reluctantly puts the notepad in her backpack and follows Jennie to the gaming club stall, where Jisoo has just finished signing up. Jisoo turns around and sees Jennie and Chaeyoung approaching. "Hi Mandu, what are you guys up to?" Jennie furrows her brows at the nickname. "I am not a dumpling Jisoo and Chaeyoung is looking for the art club."

"Art club? We just walk by it, I think Irene, Dahyun, Joy and Yeri are there. Come, let's go, we'll take you"

Seulgi takes Chaeyoung's arm and drag her along while Jisoo walks beside Jennie. Jennie looks over to the other girl and opens her mouth, signalling that she wants some of the chicken skewers that Jisoo's eating. "You're lucky you're cute." Jisoo rolls her eyes but gives Jennie one skewer anyways. Jennie shakes her head and keeps her mouth open, Jisoo raises an eyebrow. "You're a grown up, eat it yourself." Then again, Jisoo seems to can't handle Jennie's aegyo and feeds her the chicken anyways. Jennie gives Jisoo a big smile and intertwines their hands, pulling the other with her. "Come on, let's catch up with the others."

"Who did you say are with Irene again?" Chaeyoung asks Seulgi. "Dahyun, Yeri and Joy, what is it?" Chaeyoung panics a little but she manages to calm herself and clears her throat. "Nothing, what would there be anything?" Seulgi raises her eyebrows and smiles at Chaeyoung. "You know my seat is right behind you right?" Chaeyoung widens her eyes and stares at Seulgi. "What do you know?"

"I know that you have a sketch of someone and you can't stop looking at it. Come on Chaeng, you can go talk to her, she seems very fun."

"I know, I just missed her when we got out of class for lunch."

"Are you telling me that you missed the only person in this school who has grey hair?" Seulgi reasons with Chaeyoung, she obviously wants Chaeng to woman up and talk to Dahyun. "It doesn't matter anyways, we are seeing her in a few minutes, and by then you should talk to her. I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?"

Chaeyoung nods, Seulgi is right, come up and talk to your classmate, what's stopping her? She feels a little tense so she pulls out her notepad and starts looking around to see if there's anything catches her eye for a sketch. Drawing has always been an effective relief method for her. But there's something she doesn't know, Seulgi is a queen of famous last words. Just as she starts drawing, two figures suddenly bump into her hard, making her drop the notepad, it seems like they were running or something.

"KIDS! STOP PLAYING! Come and apologize." Seulgi is helping Chaeyoung up when she hears a shout. "Hi Joohyun, who are you calling kids?" Seulgi curiously asks.

"The duo over there, Yeri and Joy, I adopted them just now. They are a handful." Seulgi chuckles at how Irene talks like a tired mother of two kids. "Do you need my help? I think they need another parent."

Irene blushes madly and looks at pretty much everywhere but Seulgi. "I'll think about that offer Ms. Kang but I prefer dating before jumping right into marriage."

"So is that a yes?" Seulgi excitedly says, looking at Irene with her brightest smile possible.

"Whoa there Seulgi, we know each other for less than a day, give it some time." Irene winks at Seulgi and walks towards Yeri and Joy.

Meanwhile, Chaeyoung is frantically searching for her notepad, which flew somewhere when the duo bumped into her. "No need to find, it's here." The universe has a funny way of playing games on her. When Chaeyoung stands up, she is met by none other than Dahyun and she's looking at the notepad at the only page Chaeyoung doesn't want her to. "Uhh, hey Dahyun."

"Hey to you too, Chaeyoung, when did you draw this?" Dahyun keeps a stoic expression, her eyes stare deeply into Chaeyoung's and her hands clutching the notepad tightly.

"I'm really sorry Dahyun, I should have asked your permission first, I'll tear it right here in front of you, just please don't hate me, please." Chaeyoung is now seriously panicked, she curses at herself for taking the notepad out and letting Dahyun sees it.

While Chaeyoung is rambling and apologizing, Dahyun takes time looking at the sketch she's holding. Every stroke of the pencil is confident and the final product is breathtaking if Dahyun is being honest. In fact, she's not mad at all, she's surprised, no one has ever drawn her, like ever, not to mention this good. Dahyun reaches out and cups Chaeyoung's face to stop the other girl's rambling. "I'm not mad, Chaeyoung, this is beautiful. Well sure, you can tell me beforehand if you wanted to draw me but nonetheless, I'm flattered. Thanks."

"Uhh, y-you, do you want to keep it?" Chaeyoung offers.

"Nah, it's your work, you keep it, but I'll take a picture of this though." Dahyun fishes out her phone and snaps a photo. She quickly posts it on her Instagram, Chaeyoung tries to look at the caption but Dahyun quickly uses her hand to cover the phone. "You'll know what I wrote when you find out what my Instagram account is, okay?"

Irene comes back with Seulgi, Yeri and Joy in tow. "Let's go you two, Jihyo just texts me that there will be special announcements at the stage."

Sixteen girls meet each other at the stage area, waiting for the announcement from Principal Park. After a few minutes, Mr. Park comes on stage in a white tuxedo with Mr. Kwon next to him.

"Hello students, I hope you had a lot of fun in the fair." All the students collectively cheer. "Good, because aside from studying, this is what our school is all about. I hope that you all have found clubs that you love and apply to them. Now for the important part, all of you maybe wondering how many events there will be and the answer is there are three big events in total. Mr. Kwon, why don't you do the honors?"

"Thank you, Mr. Park. The first event will be the traditional Halloween charity fundraiser. As stated in the name, this event will take place in Halloween, you will have the chance to dress up and join the Halloween spirit. All purchases made during the fundraiser will be donated to charity, from tickets to food and souvenirs. The second is the sports championship, each class will have the chance to compete in many sports from football, basketball to archery, track and field, even gymnastics. And finally, the biggest event is the annual music gala at the end of the year. I can't be prouder to announce that this year's gala will be hosted by my homeroom, homeroom 16."

"Oh my God, no no no!" Jihyo and Irene facepalm themselves in the most extreme way possible.

"What's wrong?" Sana and Tzuyu turn to them, still don't know why they reacted like that.

"This is a concert, like a big one, there are props and sound and lighting." Jihyo blurts out.

"Not to mention, there must be a panel to choose the acts that will actually get to perform." Irene continues.

"And we also have to find sponsors, figure out a theme, make food and drinks for the participants and the audience." Jihyo grimaces. "And have I mentioned there are only 17 of us. You guys will have to enlist the help of every single people you know in this school and we have to start planning as soon as possible if we want to make that a memorable and worthwhile night for the whole school." When they both finish explaining, Irene and Jihyo look at the others with determination in the eyes. Surrounding them, all the other classes applaud excitingly. It's going to be a wild year for them.


	7. Help Wanted

After the announcement, the students scatter around the fair and try to enjoy the rest of the fair. Meanwhile, the girls stay behind and discuss to come up with some kind of plan. "We still got a whole year, right? Let's just try to ask other people we know for help first, we can't actually do anything now." Momo suggests.

"Well yes, that's the one of the things we have to do now. The most important thing is that we have to think of a theme. Last year's was Reminiscence, which basically means that it's flashback night. That idea was very supported by the students so we have to step up our game." Jihyo explains while scrolling through her phone, trying to search for ideas.

Rosé raises her hand. "How about 'Love', you can't go wrong with that, the topic is rather broad and I'm pretty sure people will have a lot of ideas for it."

"That's a really good idea, Rosie. It will be easy to design the stage and find the sponsors for the gala." Irene starts jotting down ideas in her notebook. "Another thing, do you guys know any other students that can help us, I mean there are stage props and lighting and speakers, all that stuff. We need muscles for that, we need guys, I can't believe I just say that." Irene pinches the bridge of her nose and grimaces.

"I know a guy, his name is Mino, I think he's in homeroom 4, I'm not sure, I think he will be happy to help." Jisoo buts in.

Soon enough, Irene's notebook is filled with names suggested by the others. Jennie knows a guy named Jongin, Lisa will ask her friend BamBam and then they will try to enlist the help from fellow club members.

**The next day**

Jisoo and Mina are walking to the gaming club room, about to have their first club meeting. When they arrive, they are met by their definition of heaven. The room is packed with the most modern consoles and PCs, different posters of popular games are hanged on the wall, there is even a bar for snacks and drinks.

"Oh man, I want to move in here. This is basically my life." Mina utters, her mouth hanging open while looking at a fanart of Overwatch.

"Tell me about it, this is the best decision I've made so far." Jisoo sits at one of the PlayStation consoles and browses through the games.

"Hi there." A blond-haired guy opens the door, coming in to the room.

"Mino, hey man, you signed up for this too?" Jisoo comes up and does some kind of special handshake with Mino. "This is Mina, my classmate and also a member."

Mina shakes hands with Mino. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. And Jisoo? The thing you texted me last night, about the year end gala, I'm in. I'll ask my friends Hoony, Yoon and Jinwoo too."

"Thanks Mino, you're a life saver, we need all the help we can get."

"No problem, now what are waiting for? They said we can play anything before the meeting. Overwatch, Pubg or Call of duty?" Mino cracks his knuckles and sits at a computer.

"Definitely Overwatch, watch me carry the team." Mina smirks and logs in to the game.  
  


At the cafeteria, Jennie, Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Irene and Seulgi are having some drinks waiting for afternoon classes to start. "Jisoo just texts me, Mino and his friends agree to help us." Seulgi speaks up while checking out her phone.

"Good, how about you guys?" Irene asks.

"Jongin agreed, some of his friends will help as well." Jennie looks up and takes out her pen to write some names in Irene's notebook.

"Count us in." Lisa and Jeongyeon walks over to the table with their drinks in hand. "BamBam and his friends Jackson, Yugyeom, JB and Junior all want to join us."

Irene smiles and closes her notebook. "That should be more than enough for us to prepare, but I have to remind you guys, on the night of the concert, we are the only people who will be working, the others will be guests."

"What are you doing Chaeng?" Jeongyeon leans over to look at Chaeyoung's notepad.

"I'm trying to think of suitable designs for the stage and possibly a photobooth for the guests to check in at the event. You know, Instagram-worthy photos?" Chaeyoung speaks up but doesn't look away from her phone and her other hand is still drawing.

Dahyun looks around and frowns. "Seulgi, your club's meeting has already finished right?"

Seulgi nods. "Jisoo and Mina are at the game club, so where are Momo and the others?"  
  


There's a reason why Momo, Nayeon and Rosé aren't at the cafeteria. They are now hiding behind a wall next to the environment club room. "What do you think Rosie?" Momo asks.

"I don't know about this Mo, he seems decent enough. He hasn't done anything off limits yet." Rosie narrows her eyes, still observing the club room closely.

"Still, I don't like this, why does it look like they're flirting?" Nayeon says, irritation evident in her voice.

"Well, it's not like we can prohibit them from doing that. They're both single, I mean, he'd better be." Momo stares intensely at the guy.

They are looking at Sana, it is pretty obvious to the three of them that Tzuyu has a small crush on Sana and they want to make sure their friend doesn't get heart-broken just 2 days into high school life. So now, they are spying (they prefer it to be looking) on Sana talking to her fellow club member, Mark.

"What are you doing?" A voice speaks up from behind them, making Rosé jumps in surprise. Momo quickly holds her down for them not to get caught. Yeri and Joy have their hands on their hips and narrow their eyes at the other three.

"Oh God, you scared us and no, nothing special." Nayeon clutches her chest and turns to the two newcomers.

"Seems like you're spying on Sana for some reasons, that's not nice, guys."

"Yeah, besides that, you guys are not being discreet at all, anyone walks by can clearly see you." Yeri adds.

At that moment, the bell rings, signals that afternoon classes are about to begin and Sana starts packing up her laptop. Students coming out from different rooms. Soon enough, the hallway is packed and everyone starts going back to their homeroom. Tzuyu and Jihyo returns to school after going outside to have lunch.

Nayeon speaks up. "Come on, let's go back to our homeroom, we'll talk to Tzuyu later."  
  


"I told you we're not going to be late."

"Still, it's my first day Mom, we barely made it, I can go by my own car."

"You said it, it's your first day, it's our thing that I take you to school on the first day. Besides, we just get back here, you still have jetlag and all that, I don't want you to drive on your own."

"Sure Mom, I'll be going now. Bye, love you." The girl steps out of the car and walks inside, ready to meet her new classmate.

"This is not much different from Canada after all."


	8. Our Of Nowhere

Tzuyu and Jihyo are walking to their homeroom after lunch when Jihyo suddenly stops and looks at something near the principal's office. "What is it Jihyo?" Tzuyu follows Jihyo's gaze but she doesn't see anything odd.

"Nothing, it's just I saw someone over there." Jihyo raises one of her eyebrows then looks away shaking her head.

"Someone beautiful enough to catch your eyes?" Tzuyu smirks nudges Jihyo's shoulder.

"Maybe, didn't see her face that clear, she looks kinda out of place." Tzuyu nods and holds the door open for Jihyo when they reach their classroom.

"Thanks Tzuyu, what a gentleman." Jihyo winks at Tzuyu and goes to her seat.

Nayeon, Momo and Rosie, who have witnessed the whole thing happens in front of them, immediately attack Tzuyu with questions.

"What was that?", "How come you guys are flirting already?", "What about Sana?"

Tzuyu holds up her hands to calm her three nosy friends down. "Whoa guys, calm down, one at a time. First up, we're not a thing, okay? Nayeon, chill. Secondly, it's friendly flirting and I always hold doors for people. And finally, what about Sana?"

"Come on, don't you have a little crush on Sana?" Momo raises her eyebrows at Tzuyu as if saying 'don't you dare lie to us'.

"Okay, I do, but it's just a tiny little crush, nothing much. Besides we haven't even talked much, we're not the closest of friends." Tzuyu replies simply. She's not lying, but if she tells her friends everything she's thinking of right now, they would go wild. She was holding back, she doesn't want her feelings for Sana to grow. Because when those feelings grow to a certain degree, she will have the urge to confess to Sana and as things stand, her chance to success is pretty much none. So right now her plan is to simply be Sana's friend and come what may. When the time is right, she will confess and if she fails then so be it.

"Stand up." Jihyo calls, signalling that classes are about to start. Mr. Kwon comes in with a laptop and a ton of paperwork in his arms.

"Hello girls, you may sit." Mr. Kwon takes his seat at the teacher's desk. "Before we start, there is one other thing you girls need to know. Our class will have one new member. I'll let her introduce herself to you."

The girls instantly look at each other, some furrow their brows, some have their mouths hanging open. At this point, they don't even know if they signed up for a high school or a reality show. What's up with all the surprises and announcements? If Mr. Kwon pointed to the corners of the room and showed them the hidden cameras, they wouldn't even be surprised anymore. Anyway, the new girl slowly makes her way to the center of the classroom.

"Hello, my name is Son Seungwan, my English name is Wendy. I was born in Korea, but I just moved back here from Canada. I hope we can be great friends." Seungwan introduces herself then bows deeply.

"Thanks Seungwan. There's only one empty seat left, why don't you sit there. Your deskmate is Jihyo, our monitor." Mr. Kwon gestures Seungwan to her seat.

"Hi deskmate, nice to meet you." Seungwan happily turns to Jihyo and holds out her hand.

"Hi there." Jihyo simply says and spares only a side glance at Seungwan before turning back to her notebook.

Seungwan pouts then shakes her head lightly and turns to the board, then she turns back and mutters to Jihyo. "I'm sorry if I made you mad or uncomfortable, I'll ask Mr. Kwon to change my seat if you want."

Jihyo shakes her head. "No need to go through such trouble, I'm just a bit tired today, I'm sorry for acting up." Wendy just simply smiles and nods.

Behind them, Dahyun and Yeri are dumb-founded. "What was that all about?" Yeri leans over and whispers to Dahyun.

"Beats me, she is usually so friendly and bubbly. Must be something that happened today." Dahyun shrugs, still keeping her eyes to the front.

Jihyo turns around and glares at the two. Dahyun and Yeri raise their hands slightly. "My guess, that time of the month, probably?" Dahyun leans back to Yeri and snickers.

"Definitely."

After classes end, Jihyo immediately stands up and makes a beeline towards the door and disappear. Tzuyu is about to stand up and follow her but she is stopped by Nayeon and Momo.

"Let her be, Dahyun said she's been irritated about something for the entire afternoon. Wanna go grab a coffee or something?" Nayeon suggests.

"Didn't you guys drink coffee at lunch already?" Tzuyu asks.

"Yeah, but after two periods of math followed by two periods of chemistry, I need something to get my brain working again."

After that, they are joined by Jeongyeon and Lisa at the cafe opposite the school. "I needed this." Rosie hums after taking a sip of her latte. "What happend with Jihyo today?" Jeongyeon asks.

"No one knows, but she was acting very weird to Seungwan. She said she was tired but she seems fine when she left the class earlier. Moreover, Seungwan seems nice and friendly." Lisa says, while using her straw to eat the bobas in her cup. "Oh sh-" Lisa immediately spills some tea on her blouse.

"I'll get you some napkins." Rosie immediately walks to the counter.

"That's quick, she was way slower when I ask her to help me pick up my pen this afternoon." Momo complains but smirks at Lisa. "Real smooth, Manoban."

"Yah! All I did was taking a photo of her at the fair." Lisa defends herself.

"Woah, you got game, I need to get myself a camera." Momo puts a finger on her chin, as if she is trying to come up with a plan.

"Well, with abs like that and your dancing, I don't think you need a camera." Rosie comes back and helps Lisa wipe the stains on her clothes.

"How did you know about my abs?"

"Seulgi told us and they are showing at the moment." Jeongyeon says and points at Momo's stomach.

"Anyway, Seungwan will be great help with the concert, right?" Nayeon quickly changes the topic.

"What concert?" Seungwan appears out of nowhere, holding a cup of coffee.

"Oh hey Seungwan, it's the traditional year end gala, you missed the fair so you didn't know, we'll help you catch up later. We're the hosts, by the way."

"Jihyo and Joohyun are in charge of most of the prepartion, you should talk to them about what you can and cannot do." Rosie adds. "Oh but anyway, are you, in anyway, mad at Jihyo?"

Seungwan shakes her head. "No, that's no big deal, she'll come around. I don't think I have the tendency to piss people off, at least I hope so."

They talk about almost anything they can think of, from the teachers to basic stuff like the movies and series they are watching. Momo notices that Tzuyu has been quiet for about 10 minutes then turn to her. "Is there something wrong Tzu?" Tzuyu doesn't say anything, instead she shows Momo a picture on her phone. Momo, Rosie and Nayeon exchange worried glances to the photo and to Tzuyu. It is a photo of Sana and she is stepping in a car. And Mark is holding the door open for her.

"They can be working on something for their club, it's not exactly what we think." Rosie speaks up, casting a hopeful glance at Tzuyu.

"Besides, it would be too fast, right? We're only two days in." Momo adds, trying to make things look optimistic.

"Maybe they knew each other beforehand." Lisa says and Rosie immediately covers her mouth while whispering 'Not helping'.

"That's okay guys, nothing's wrong, I'm fine. She can date anyone she wants, it's not like we have the right to interfere or anything." Tzuyu says and gives the group a small smile, assuring them that she's fine. But what they don't know is that Tzuyu is now scratching her thigh with her hand under the table, she doesn't want her friends to be too worried. Seungwan, who is sitting next to Tzuyu, notices this and puts her hand over Tzuyu's, hoping to calm the tall girl. She gives Tzuyu a brief nod like saying 'We got you'. Tzuyu nods weakly, takes back her phone and deletes the photo.


	9. Time Will Tell

Sana has a ton of club assignments on her plate so as soon as classes end, she goes straight to her club room and starts working with the designing team. It's just two days in and the club is already working in full swing, almost every member has some kind of deadline. The designing team only has four members so they are extremely busy. She checks her watch and sees it is already 7 p.m and she hasn't eaten anything.

"You guys wanna go to the cafe to grab something to eat? It's quite late and I'm starving." Sana stretches her arm and looks at her fellow teammates.

"The cafe across the street? They don't have food, I've checked." Moonbyul speaks up.

"Are you guys okay with going to my house? It's nearby and we can order something to eat?" Mark suggests. "Besides, I think everyone has already gone home, we're the only ones left."

"I mean we're fine with anything I guess. But is your family okay with it? We don't want to cause any trouble." Seungyoon hesitantly says.

"It's no big deal, my mom is pretty relaxed. So are we going?"

"Okay sure, but I don't have a car or anything. I guess I'll take the bus." Sana starts packing up her things.

"I can drive you and I'll take you home, if you're okay of course." Mark offers.

"That's cool, let's go then."  
  


"Are you tired Sana?" Mark glances at Sana before turning back to the road.

"A bit, but nothing too major, I'm a bit sleepy." Sana yawns and leans back on the seat.

"You can take a nap, I'll wake you up when we get there."

"No that's fine, I'm a heavy sleeper."

"Okay then. Oh by the way, how is it going with the concert?" Mark changes the topic, trying to keep Sana awake.

"We've found some help but we haven't actually got any stable plans or ideas yet. Do you want to, perhaps, help out?" Sana suggests.

"Yeah, sure. It will be fun." Mark smiles at Sana. "Hey, I know this is a very bad question to ask now, but are you single?" Mark still looks at the road, afraid that Sana will slap him or something.

Sana widens her eyes. "You're right, that is a bad question to ask a girl you barely know, Tuan. But to answer your question, no. I'm not actively looking for a relationship and no one has caught my attention yet." There's a weird feeling in her stomach when she said that but she ignores it, thinking that it's just because she's hungry.

**Two months later**

October is finally here and the school are preparing for the Halloween fundraiser. Midterms have already finished and everyone is tired and ready to hang loose and party. The students of YJM high school had experienced what is called 'the tests from hell'. There were rumors when they signed up that this is one of the best high schools in Korea and there are many reasons for it, one of them being the tests are extremely difficult and students will probably end up with a 7 or 8 and they would feel like they just conquered the world.

However, that rule only applies to the majority of students. Mina, Jisoo and Seungwan are definitely a cut above the rest. Jisoo has proven herself to be one of the best students in literature, almost all of her writings receive a lot of praises from teacher and one of her short stories is published on the school magazine. Mina, on the other hand, is a beast at math, she's the only student in the school to get full marks on the midterm test. And finally, Seungwan, let's just say anything she does, she excels at it. Tzuyu has also proven that she is extremely good at chemistry and biology and people have already told her to apply for medical schools when she graduates.

Aside from the rise of geniuses from the class, love is still not in the air, but however, tension is. Jihyo has open up to Seungwan, but only a little and to Seungwan, that's good enough. There is also something strange going on between Yeri and Joy but no one has found out. Momo and Seulgi have become the best dancing duo of the dance club. While Momo and Mina are great friends, Seulgi has been actively distanced herself from Joohyun, she said that the reason is dumb and doesn't want to tell anyone about it. Sana has been hanging out with Mark a lot for the last month and Tzuyu has been okay about it. She said she has moved on and Momo, Nayeon and Rosie don't need to worry too much about her.

Right now, Tzuyu is sitting in one of the study rooms of the library waiting for Mr. Kwon. He has some extra classes for students that need to improve or learn more about math. Tzuyu doesn't know anyone else in this class and frankly she doesn't care that much. She is sitting in the back of the class, silently munching on the potato chips, which she always buys to kill time when Mr. Kwon is teaching the easier parts. She is listening to music when a figure approaches her and waves their hand in front of her face.

"Hey there. Is the seat taken?" Sana smiles at Tzuyu, she's happy to see a classmate in this class with her.

"No, go ahead, take a seat, did you just join today?" Tzuyu replies, removing her backpack for Sana to sit.

"Yeah, figure I should start learning the tougher parts, I don't want to fall behind, one hell test is enough for me." Sana says, taking out her sandwich and starts eating. "How are you doing these days?"

"I'm fine, I guess, nothing too special. We didn't talk much in the last month, did we?"

"Sorry Tzu, I'm really busy with all the projects in my club and it's been deadline after deadline. At some point I even consider resigning, but hey, I'll try to be persistent for once. How about your translating job in the book club?"

"Well I'm not always busy, it's only when there's a new foreign book. I see you've been hanging out with Mark a lot." Tzuyu changes the subject, she kinda wants to know about Sana and Mark.

"Oh right, he's a good guy, fun to be with, helpful and I work with him a lot, I mean, we're in the designing team together." Sana answers but she can't look at Tzuyu in her eyes for some reasons.

"Are you okay? Why do you suddenly look away, is something there?" Tzuyu follows Sana's gaze but Sana turns away again.

"Mark is courting me, Tzuyu. It's been a couple of weeks now." Sana utters and closes her eyes tightly.

"Why are you nervous, it's great, as long as you're happy. You don't need to be like this. It's not like I like you Sana." Tzuyu chuckles.

"Is that so? That's good I guess. And yes, things are going great between us." Sana smiles warmly.

"What makes you think I like you?"

"Umm...Mina and Momo."

"Oh God, those two. Well, it's fine, I don't want us to be awkward, we're going to be deskmates."

"Yayy." Sana chirps happily and resumes eating her sandwich.

"I'm going to the restroom for a bit, tell Mr. Kwon if he asks for me." Tzuyu excuses herself and steps out of the classroom.  
  


"Hey Momo, you have a text from Tzuyu." Seulgi calls out to Momo, who is practicing her new dance routine.

Momo takes her phone from Seulgi and opens the text. "Hmm, voice recording, she never does this." Momo then holds the phone to her ear only to be surprised by a crying Tzuyu.

_'You guys were right'_


	10. Chasing Pavements

The next day, Momo asks Rosie and Nayeon to wait for Tzuyu with her at the front gate. It's only 10 minutes until classes start and Tzuyu still hasn't arrived. Rosie frantically asks. "Where is she? Is she alright? Should we go find her?"

"We don't know where her house is anyway and she always walks to school, just wait for little while. Why doesn't she pick up her phone?" Momo is holding her phone to her ear, still trying to reach Tzuyu.

"Maybe she wants to take a day off? I mean after yesterday, I would completely understand." Nayeon suggests.

"She told me she wanted to save her days off in case she got sick, we have a limit every semester, remember? She'll will come, just wait." Momo nervously glances back and forth.

"There she is!" Rosie hastily points across the street. Tzuyu is wearing a bucket hat, her hair looks like a mess with dark circles around her eyes. She is clutching are cup of coffee while walking towards the school.

Her three friends immediately runs to her. Nayeon starts combing Tzuyu's hair, Momo is checking Tzuyu's face and Rosie is attacking her with questions. "Have you eaten? How are you feeling? Do you need to skip class?"

"I'm okay, guys. I just can't get enough sleep last night. I stopped by to get a coffee to stay awake." Tzuyu utters. "Let's just go to class or we'll be late."

On the way to class, they run into Jihyo who is doing some paperwork at the student council office. "Hi guys, why are you guys still here?" Jihyo asks.

"We were waiting for Tzuyu, we're going back to class now, we won't be late, don't worry." Rosie assures.

Momo suddenly comes up with an idea. "I know what will help Tzuyu. How about a sleepover? My place."

"Well sure, that will be fun, I'll bring some food and movies, it will help take your mind off other things. Jihyo, do you wanna join us, I think Tzuyu would love to have you there." Rosie suggests and turns to Jihyo. Tzuyu nods slowly.

Jihyo seems to sense that Tzuyu needed some help. "Sure, I don't have anything to do tonight. I'll join you."

Later, after class, the five girls pile into Momo's car and prepare for the sleepover. "Stop here Momo, I need to get one extra thing." Nayeon steps out of the car and walks to the convenient store. Jihyo turns to Tzuyu. "Something happened?" Tzuyu just simply nods. Momo turns around and whispers into Jihyo's ear. Jihyo then nods grimly and puts her hand on Tzuyu's and gives it a light squeeze.

Nayeon comes back with a bag full of potato chips and marshmallows. "Let's get the party started." The rest of the car ride is full of laughter and jokes, Tzuyu feels grateful that her friends are supportive and trying their hardest to cheer her up.

"Hi Mom, Dad. I'm home." Momo leads the girls into her house. Mrs. Hirai immediately rushes out and hugs her daughter. "How's my little peach doing, did you have a good day?"

"Mom, we talked about this, I have friends over." Momo pinches the bridge of her nose while the other girls chuckle.

"Hello, Mrs. Hirai, I hope there's not too much trouble." Jihyo holds out her hand to greet Momo's mom and the other girls follow suit.

"Momo has already texted me, Dad is preparing the guest room for you girls, it's important that you have fun." Mrs. Hirai smiles warmly and shakes the girls' hands.

"The rooms are ready. Have you girls eaten anything yet?" Mr. Hirai comes down from upstairs and hugs Momo.

"No we haven't but we have bought some things here." Momo shows her parents the bags.

"Okay then, we'll go out for dinner now, we'll be back at 10 or something. Take care of your friends and have fun, ok?" Mrs. Hirai kisses Momo on the cheek and closes the front door.

"Your parents are fun." Rosie smiles while putting a handful of chips in her mouth.

"Yeah, they are the reasons why I always have a positive attitude, they show me that there are many good things and you should focus on them." Momo smiles and takes out the food.

"Have you told them about us?" Nayeon asks and goes to help Momo in the kitchen.

"Of course yes. I always tell them about my friends."

"Mina?" Nayeon raise her eyebrows.

"Sure, why not. She's one of my best friends in the class."

"You know what I mean Momo." Nayeon challenges her again.

"No, not that part. Are you happy with my answer?" Momo frowns.

"I'll let you off this time."

"Tzuyu, what do you like to eat?" Momo calls out from the kitchen, trying to change the topic.

"The spicy ramen, and I'll have two packs. I'm really hungry and I just want to stuff my face right now." Tzuyu says while scanning through the channels on TV. "And don't try to change the subject Momo, we all know that you and Mina have been attached by the hips for the last month."

"Oh wow, Tzuyu, is this ganging up on Momo day?" Momo and Nayeon walk out of the kitchen with food in their hands.

"We're just really good friends and I may or may not like her a little bit more than that, okay?" Momo blushes and smiles shyly.

The evening goes by with a lot of things happen. Some are memorable and fun, some are extremely embarrassing. They eat so much that they can practically roll to the room, especially Nayeon, she eats one whole pack of marshmallow on her own. Tzuyu admits she actually feels a whole lot better thanks to this sleepover. Since it's Halloween, Momo decides to make them watch 'The Ring' but she doesn't tell Rosie. When the scene with the TV happens, Rosie jumps on her feet and makes a beeline for the bathroom and hides herself in it. The last thing they do is play Truth or Dare. Some juicy secrets have been spilled and embarrassing dares have been done. Nayeon has confessed that she checked out Ms Jieun (their Korean literature teacher) countless times and she actually enjoys it, Tzuyu admits that she genuinely hates Nayeon in the first few days but she doesn't anymore. 

On the other hand, Momo is made to prank call Mina while the other girl is playing games, but it turns out way different. Mina is the one to catch Momo off guard when she ended the conversation with an invitation to a "friendly" date and Momo is internally grateful that she agreed to the dare. Jihyo, however, isn't that grateful with her dare. She had to post a video of her doing her most cringe-worthy aegyo possible on her Instagram and she can't delete it until the next weekend. The comment section of the post is a combination of people saying 'delete this' like Jeongyeon and Joohyun, some people swoon at it like Jisoo, Dahyun and Seulgi and then Seungwan just comes in and puts one word 'Cute' with a heart emoji next to it. The girls are positive that they saw Jihyo blushed at that but Jihyo kept on denying. And finally Rosie had to send an audio of her saying "Good night, sweet dreams" to Lisa and the Thai girl is probably having a heart attack when she hears that.

Right now, Momo, Nayeon and Rosie are fast asleep with Nayeon's leg on Momo's stomach and Rosie is hugging Momo like the Japanese is her teddy bear. Tzuyu is now on the balcony listening to music because she can't sleep. "Did you have fun tonight?" Jihyo joins her on the balcony, holding a glass of water.

"Yeah, it's nice to forget about those feelings, even just for a little while." Tzuyu smiles weakly, a new song plays on her earphones.

"What are you listening to?" Jihyo asks.

Tzuyu hands Jihyo one of the ear buds. "Adele."

"Good song choice, it fits the situation right now." Jihyo chuckles lightly and hums along to the song.

"What should I do Jihyo?"

"Well, moving on will make you feel relieve and give you another chance in a relationship. But I know your feelings right now, holding on seems a bit better, because it's not the end yet and maybe one day your chance with her will come. Also it's not easy to just throw away all the feelings you have. Anyway, that's the best I can say, I can't help you make that choice." 

"Why is that?"

Jihyo pauses for a minute then smiles somewhat bitterly. "Because I'm chasing pavements as well."


	11. What Lies Beneath

Jisoo is so done. Halloween is coming and it seems like people aren't that excited, why is everyone so grim and sad? The class is usually so energetic and lively. She is trying to get someone to go to the movies with her tonight and all of her friends either already have plans or isn't in the best condition for a night out. She was about to ask Tzuyu earlier today but she saw Tzuyu looks tired and sleepy this morning, she thought that wasn't the best of ideas. Mina is still full of energy, but she has promised some members from the gaming club that she will join them in an Outlast Halloween playthrough. And don't even get her started about her best friend. Seulgi has been extremely secretive about what she does after school. She didn't tell anyone, not even her long time friend. After running out of ideas, Jisoo moves on to ask Dahyun and Chaeyoung but she has no succeed. Chaeyoung says she needs to finalize her designs for the concert and she wants to spend time preparing her costume for the fundraiser coming up while Dahyun says she's too lazy to leave her house. That leaves Jisoo with one choice left.

"Hi Jen, are you free tonight?" Jisoo approaches Jennie after class.

"Yeah, sure. It's Saturday, I don't have anything else to do. Why do you ask?" Jennie looks up from her notebook.

"Well, Halloween is coming and I was wondering if you would want to go watch a movie with me." Jisoo smiles sweetly, giving Jennie her puppy eyes.

"Are you asking me out?" Jennie smirks.

"Let's just say that it's a hangout, we'll grab something to eat and watch a movie, simple as that."

"Sure, I'll go with you. What are we watching?" Jennie slings her backpack over shoulder.

"Halloween week special, Hereditary." Jisoo smiles excitedly, she has been waiting to see that movie for a long time now.

Jennie pauses. She can handle a few horror movies but Hereditary is one of the worst, she only made it through the first 20 minutes before she turned it off when she first watched it. "O-okay, that's cool."

"Are you scared Jen? If so we can watch something else."

Jennie is scared alright. But being Jennie Kim, she's not gonna let other people call her out like that, she's going to face this like the fabulous person she is. She turns to Jisoo and puts on one of the brightest fake smile ever. "Scared? Pfft. I'm not scared. We'll watch that."

Jisoo grabs Jennie's hand and pull her along but Jennie stands back. "I'm going home to take a shower first. Can you pick me up?"

Jisoo smirks. "Smooth, Jennie. You want me to come to your house already?"

Jennie sends Jisoo a glare. "No, I didn't mean that. Anyway, is 7 okay?" Jennie sends her address to Jisoo.

"Sure, 7 is fine. Dress pretty, princess." Jisoo winks and runs away.

Jennie is now standing in her bedroom looking into her closet to find an outfit. Jisoo has been waiting in front of her house for 15 minutes now and she is starving. Jisoo runs out of patience and calls Jennie. "Yah, wait a little." Jennie puts the phone on speaker.

"It's 7:15 Jen, we're gonna be late for the movie. What are you doing anyways?" Jisoo is starving so she's a bit grumpy.

"I'm choosing something to wear."

"Just wears whatever you feel fine, it's not like we're going to a fancy restaurant or something. You know what, send me a photo of what you're wearing, I'll help you decide."

"I can't, I'm naked, I only have my towel on." Jennie turns back to the closet.

"Oh, do send a photo, I wanna see that." Jisoo grins cheekily even though Jennie can't see that.

"Aish, you perv. I chose one, be down there in a minute." Jennie hangs up the phone, a toothy grin on her face. She doesn't know why she takes the time to choose a presentable outfit to hangout with Jisoo and frankly she doesn't care. Jisoo's active energy and sometimes crazy antics always make her happy and Jennie is very grateful that Jisoo is her friend.

Jennie puts on a Chanel off-shoulder sweater with blue jeans and white shoes and quickly makes her way to Jisoo who is sitting on the hood of her car. "Hello pretty, ready to go?" Jisoo winks at Jennie and holds the passenger's door open.

"Very ready." Jennie smiles back and holds Jisoo's gaze for more than a minute. Then Jisoo snaps out of the trance and steps into the car.

"Tokbokki and ramyeon, really Chu?" Jennie raises her eyebrows but she admits to herself that she enjoys this anyway.

"What? This is cheap and I clearly see that you like it. I'm gonna be honest, I never thought you are a cheap date." Jisoo smiles fondly at Jennie, who has already finished a bowl of ramyeon and they are now sharing a big plate of tokbokki.

"So now it is a date? You just played yourself there." Suddenly, Jennie phone starts ringing and she frowns when the caller ID pops up on the screen. "Yes. I'm outside, I'll be home late tonight." Jennie grimaces, clearly irritated. "I don't have class tomorrow. Yeah, whatever." She hangs up the phone and throws it back in her purse.

"You seem angry. Is everything okay?" Jisoo asks with concern.

"My Dad. He calls to check on me, at least he made it sounds like so. He just doesn't care." Jennie puts down her chopsticks, seeming to lost her appetite.

"What makes you say that? If it's too personal, I'm sorry."

"Too personal, come on, I've shared a lot to you. Well, when I was young, my family are very happy, at least I haven't seen anything yet. As I grow older, my dad slowly turns into something I didn't know how to call him. Money is everything to him, our family isn't his priority anymore. He always comes home late or doesn't come home at all, gradually my mom can't take it anymore and it leads to them getting a divorce. My mom wants me to stay with dad because he has enough money to help me with my study. I mean I can't blame mom for leaving, dad doesn't treat mom as his wife. I still visit my mom from time to time, but I'm pretty much live alone." Jennie sniffs and plays around with the food, trying to hold back her tears.

Jisoo reaches over and holds Jennie's hand. "You may live by yourself in your house but you're not alone. I'm not going anywhere." Jennie looks up to be met by the most beautiful smile she has ever seen in her life. Jisoo squeezes her hand slightly and traces her thumb on the knuckles.

"Let's go to the movies now. I'll pay for the food." Jisoo reaches over to wipe the single tear on Jennie's face and takes Jennie's hand to lead her to the car.

Jennie is caught of guard in the first few moments but then she tightens her hold on Jisoo's hand. She used to be alone, until a certain hyperactive girl comes into her life, she now has someone to share her feelings with, to rely on, to miss, to remember.


	12. Connect The Dots

After a short drive, Jisoo and Jennie arrive at the movie theater. "There's only 15 minutes left, I'll go get our tickets, you can get anything you want at food and drinks over there." Jisoo says at hands Jennie her wallet.

"I can pay you know." Jennie yells after Jisoo. Then Jennie heads towards the counter to get some drinks and popcorn. While she is waiting for her stuff, Jennie sees someone familiar heading to the restroom.

"What are you looking at?" Jisoo returns with two tickets in her hand.

"Nothing, I just think I saw someone familiar." Jennie gives Jisoo her wallet back. "I wanna pay for this. I don't want you to treat me all this because you know my family problems."

"It wasn't because of that. My mom taught me to treat a girl when you're on a date with her." Jisoo quickly grabs the food and walks to the theater.

"What?" Jennie blushes hard then takes the two drinks and follows Jisoo.

"I gotta warn you for real, I heard this movie is super scary, we can watch another movie if you want." Jisoo says seriously, looking over to Jennie.

"I'm fine, I just want to see how scary it is. It's Halloween anyway, why not try?" Jennie smiles at Jisoo while trying to toss a popcorn into her mouth.

"Is it over yet?" Jennie is now peeking through her hands. She just saw a little girl got her head smashed in by a lamp post and that's too much for her. (A/N: I'm sorry for narrating this scene, I turned the movie off at this very scene when I watched it)

Jisoo looks at Jennie and chuckles lightly. "We're barely 30 minutes into the movie Jennie, are you okay, we can leave."

"No, no, you watch it, I can just do something on my phone." Jennie takes out her phone only to find out that the battery's dead. "Sh-, my phone's dead." Jennie starts looking around the room, there's another couple but they are sitting two rows in front of them, other than that, the theater is basically empty and that's not helping Jennie at all. Another jumpscare comes on the screen makes Jennie yells and clutches the nearest thing to her, Jisoo's arm.

Jisoo lifts the armrest in between them and puts her arm around Jennie's shoulder. She pats the frightened girl slowly, hoping to calm her down. "Shhh, I got you, calm down, I'm here." Jennie's free hand finds its way around Jisoo's waist and holds on to the other girl for dear life. Jisoo smiles internally, this wasn't her plan, believe it or not. She's a cheeky person when it comes to flirting but she just wants to enjoy a movie with a friend tonight, nothing more. But now, with Jennie hugging her like this, it feels right.

The movie ended 5 minutes ago and Jennie is still holding on to Jisoo. "Hey there, it ended." Jisoo coos softly, nudging Jennie. Jennie snaps awake, looking around and see the janitors cleaning the room. She realizes that she has accidentally fallen asleep on Jisoo's shoulder and the other girl has let her do that for more than an hour. She blushes for the nth time tonight and smacks Jisoo's arm lightly. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Yah, I let you sleep on it, why did you hit my arm? Besides you look like a kitten sleeping, I can't wake you up to get you jumpscared again." Jisoo rubs her arm and smiles warmly at Jennie. "Come on, I'll drive you home. Tomorrow night is the fundraiser, do you have a costume?"

"Yes, of course. But you have to wait to find out." Jennie winks and slips her hand into Jisoo's. The two are walking to Jisoo's car hand-in-hand when they bump into a bear, Seulgi. "I thought you are busy tonight, what are you doing here Seul?" Jisoo asks.

Seulgi pauses, trying to come up with a logical answer, because Jisoo is very observant. "Uhh, I'm done with my work."

Jisoo narrows her eyes. "Really?"

"Y-yeah, I'm just here to check out the movies, can't watch alone." Seulgi chuckles nervously. "Besides, I think you have had a great time tonight." Seulgi points to the joined hands of the accusing couple.

"Yes, I'm having a great time and I'll be dropping my date home." Jisoo says and leads a blushing Jennie to the parking lot.

Seulgi exhales loudly then walks to the restroom and knocks on one of the stalls in a special rhythm. The door opens revealing Joohyun who's wearing a hoodie and sunglasses indoors, hiding from Jisoo and Jennie. "Are they gone?" Joohyun takes off her glasses and looks at Seulgi.

"Yes." Seulgi turns to the sink and washes her face rather harshly.

"Bear, don't be mad at me." Joohyun hugs Seulgi from behind.

"I'm not mad." Seulgi removes Joohyun's hands from her waist and turns around to look at the shorter girl.

"You are. I'm sorry it's like this."

"I'm sorry too, I wish you told me the reason we have to keep doing this. You know what, it's late and I don't even want to watch the movie anymore. Do whatever you want then." Seulgi struts out of the restroom.

"I'm sorry Seulgi, please don't end things with me. Trust me, I'm trying." Joohyun desperately calls after Seulgi.

"To be honest with you, I'm thinking about it. Please do something so I can bring myself to give you a chance." Seulgi leaves. Joohyun puts her hands on the sink, trying to calm herself and think of ways to apologize to her beloved bear.

Suddenly the restroom door pops open. "How long are you going to keep this from me?" Jisoo steps inside the restroom, closing the door behind her.

"Nothing goes past you, doesn't it?" Joohyun looks at Jisoo.

"No, you know that. How long has that been?"

"Us? Three weeks now. And almost every date have to be like that." Joohyun sighs and rubs her hands on her face.

"Is it your mom again?" Jisoo raises her eyebrows.

"Yes, what else can it be?" Joohyun is on the verge of tears, she is so frustrated and tired of everything.

"Come here. I always know my mom is the fun sibling." Jisoo hugs Joohyun tightly, patting the other girl's back.

Jennie, who is impatient, gets back inside the theater to find Jisoo to see the two girls hugging in the restroom. "Okay, Jisoo, either you're a playgirl or you got something to explain."

Jisoo curses internally and turns around to face Jennie. "It's the second option, Jennie, you would want to grab a seat. It's my story time."

Jennie nearly spits out her drink. "You two are cousins?"

"Yeah, when we were young, we were the best of friends, inseparable. Until the day that our grandfather past away and just like a typical drama, that sparks a dispute for his assets." Jisoo starts, taking a sip from her coffee.

"Our moms who used to be the best of sisters, turn their back on each other. In the end, each of them has a fair share, at least it's fair in my perspective but they never reconcile, they don't even try to." Joohyun continues with a sigh. "That separates Jisoo and I, we barely see each other anymore, not until last August when we started high school. Oh and by the way, my mom wants me to marry a guy and have kids and all that stuff. That's why I have to keep my relationship with Seulgi under wraps, I hate that she has to go through all this, I hate that I can't tell her why and I hate that I can't have what I want with her." Joohyun close her eyes and clenches her teeth, her hands clutching her cup tightly.

Jennie and Jisoo smile at each other. "You just did, Joohyun." Joohyun furrows her eyebrows and turns around. Seulgi is sitting behind Joohyun all that time, listening to the cousins' story.

"This is your plan, isn't it?" Joohyun says with a big smile on her face.

"We didn't know anything until earlier when we met Seulgi at theater. Jisoo came up with a plan almost immediately and when Seulgi left the restroom, we told her the plan and she agreed." Jisoo explains.

Joohyun opens her mouth to say something but Seulgi puts her finger on Joohyun's lips. She pulls Joohyun closer and kisses her, catching the shorter girl off guard. Joohyun quickly kisses back and puts her arms around Seulgi's neck. After a whole minute, they pull away. "I forgive you Baechu, but you have to promise me that you will not hide anything from me anymore."

Joohyun smiles brightly and hugs Seulgi even tighter, if that's possible. "Promise, cross my heart." Joohyun then turns around and gives Jisoo and Jennie a big hug. "Thanks you two for helping me win my bear back."

Jisoo bumps her fist with Joohyun. "You know me, I got your back, that's a promise." Jisoo leads Jennie out of the cafe, leaving the happy couple to themselves. Jennie turns to Jisoo. "Eventful night, huh?"

"You can say that, I hope you had fun." Jisoo holds the car door open for Jennie.

Jennie doesn't say anything, instead she leans over and plants a kiss on Jisoo's cheek and steps inside the car. Jisoo holds her cheek, a blush forming on her face, it was a great night for her after all, helping her cousin and getting a kiss from Jennie Kim.


	13. Spooky Or Lovely

Halloween night has arrived and that means YJM high students are about to immerse themselves in the spooky spirit of the holiday. The school staff have successfully outdone themselves every single year with the designs. The school hall is now decorated with small bats stickers and fake spider webs made from thread. Jack O'Lanterns are scattered all over the school. The main school yard is where the fun mainly is. The big stage is painted orange and black with many decorations. Game and stalls are set up surrounding the yard, including a haunted house. If the students thought the school went all out at the orientation fair, they haven't seen anything yet.

Jihyo is now standing at the front gate holding a stack of tickets for her class, she decides to dress up as Princess Mononoke for the night because that's one of her favorite characters ever. She is growing impatient because she has been waiting for too long and the costume isn't the most comfortable thing to wear. She fishes out her phone and texts on the class group chat.

**Thomas:** Where are you gays? What's taking you so long?

**PeachForJokbal:** Don't call us that. And give me 10 minutes, this costume takes too much time, I'm driving.

**ChikinChu:** I'm nearby, forgot my glasses, I need to turn back for it.

**Tzuyoda:** Two minutes, it's hard to walk in this dress.

Jihyo sighs and puts her phone back then she suddenly feels someone taps her on the back. "BOO!" She turns back to be met by Annabelle and Chucky. Jihyo jumps and screams because, no offense, the two girls standing in front of her are absolutely terrifying.

"We got her! Oh my God, you should have seen your face Jihyo." Annabelle and Chucky laugh out loud and high fives. "Wait, don't say you didn't recognize us." Chucky raises her eyebrows. "It's Joy and Yeri. We really outdid ourselves, huh Yerim?"

"You two Satans, here are your tickets. You wanna wait here with me or go inside?" Jihyo hands the tickets to the duo.

"We'll wait here, I want to see how the others did." Yeri has just finished when a pink Lamborghini zooms in the parking lot and stepping out of the car is none other than Hirai Momo.

"Looking good ladies, not as good as me, of course." Momo smirks while petting the dog she's holding.

"What's with your car?" Joy asks, walking closer to admire the Lamborghini.

"Cruella de Vil has to have a sick car, right? I had it painted just two days ago for this costume." Momo grimaces while thinking about what her parents would say about this.

"You're not going to use that cute dog's fur for clothes, are you?" Jihyo asks, holding out her hand to the dog.

"Oh hell no, Mina would kill me. This is her dog, Ray." Momo passes Ray to Jihyo who is making puppy eyes for the dog. "At first, I only want to use her dog as an excuse to come over and take her to the fundraiser but she just gives me Ray and tells me to go ahead. I guess she doesn't want me to see her costume beforehand."

Tzuyu walks through the door and waves at her friends. Yeri looks at Tzuyu, who is wearing a long black elegant dress but she's also wearing sunglasses. "That's a weird style. What's your costume?" Yeri walks around and looks at Tzuyu's dress.

Tzuyu removes her glasses to show her red eyes and smiles as wide as she can to reveal her fangs. "Oooh, vampire Tzuyu, that's kinda sexy." Tzuyu looks up and sees Sana approaching. The Japanese is dressing up as the Red queen.

"Good evening, my queen." Tzuyu dips and bows curtly. Sana holds out her hand and raises her eyebrow. Tzuyu seems to get the hint, takes Sana's hand and kisses it softly. The two hold each other's gaze for a long moment before a voice pops up beside them.

"What is this gibberish we're seeing, Mr. Holmes?" Sana and Tzuyu snap out of their trance and look at the direction of the voice. Jisoo and Seungwan are narrowing their eyes at them while crossing their arms. Seungwan is Sherlock Holmes while Jisoo is Conan.

Jisoo pulls out a name card out of nowhere. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Detective Chunan, this is my colleague Mr. Holmes. Please report to us if you see any mystery needs solving." Everyone has their mouth hangs open, they don't even know what is going on. Jisoo and Seungwan are either very good at acting or they are paranoid, the whole trick-or-treating hasn't even started and they already feel high on sugar. Just when they think the night can't get weirder, they hear Lisa from the distance.

"Yes, girl, work it. Yes, right there, gorgeous. Love it." Lisa is taking pictures of Rosie and she's being incredibly over-the-top about it. "That's enough Lisa-yah, you have been taking my photos since I set foot in the school." Rosie speaks up while taking off her glasses. Rosie is dressing up as Audrey Hepburn while Lisa is Yu Tsai. She said it was just an excuse for her to take photos of everyone while telling them to 'work it'.

"Hey guys, sorry we're late." Joohyun and Seulgi walks hand-in-hand, dressing up as Gomez and Morticia Addams. "So we're still waiting for Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, Jennie, Jeongyeon and Nayeon, right?" Jihyo asks while keeping count of the tickets.

"Is that Mina?" Sana points over to the cupcake stall. Mina is munching on a red cupcake while reapplying her make up. "Is she a mummy?" Sana steps closer to see and Momo follows.

"That's no mummy, that's mommy." Momo absent-mindedly utters when she sees Mina's costume. The costume fits her body perfectly, showing her curves and elegant posture. It was very exquisite, the outside looks like white cloth wrapped around her body. Mina turns around when she sees her friends and holds out her hands for Ray. "Has he been a good boy?" Mina kisses her dog. "Yeah, he's great." Momo answers, still keeping her eyes on Mina's costume. Sana notices this and kicks Mina's leg lightly, signalling that Momo is eyeing her. Mina gets the hint and smiles cheekily at Momo. "This is why I can't let you see my costume beforehand. I know you will have this reaction."

"Sorry if I'm too blunt but I gotta say it. You're so hot and I maybe like you a bit more than a friend right now." Momo utters and closes her eyes. Mina blushes deeply and giggles. "Is that a confession, Momoring?"

Momo is surprised by the nickname and she says. "N-no, you're just very beautiful right now, not just right now, you're beautiful every time. I didn't mean that, I mean I didn't say you aren't beautiful, I just-. I should just shut up now, shouldn't I?" Mina puts her finger on Momo's lips. "I know what you mean." Momo nods slowly and smiles. "Thanks. Mitang"

Jennie and Nayeon arrives shortly after as Scarlet Witch and Catwoman and the girls starting to join the festivities because the other three are late. The girls scatter around to play games and eat almost everything they see. Momo wins Mina a penguin plushie in a shooting game and Mina has been extremely cuddly towards the penguin. Jisoo and Jennie decides to give the haunted house, but as expected, Jennie runs through the house without looking back leaving Jisoo in hysterics. However, Jisoo quickly hugs Jennie to comfort the crying girl. Jennie said she did it because Jisoo wanted to go but Jisoo assured that she will have fun if Jennie is happy.

Outside the school yard, Sana and Tzuyu are eating hot dogs on the bench. "Tired?" Sana asks.

"Just a little bit, a few games here and there." Tzuyu sits down and unwraps her food. "Oh and I figure you might want this." Tzuyu takes out a small ring from her pocket and hands it to Sana. "I won a game and the prize is either that ring or a plushie. So yeah, the ring looks more practical, it's probably not so expensive anyway."

Sana happily takes it and slips it on her finger. "Thanks Tzuyu, it's cute." They continue eating in silence until Tzuyu speaks up again. "Where's Mark, why isn't he with you today?"

"He's here but he's with some of his friends, they're not my kind of people. Besides, it's better hanging out with the class, they're crazy at times but really fun."

Their talk is interrupted by the sound of a motorbike engine getting into the parking lot. The person steps down and takes off their helmet.

"Sorry, I'm late. This makeup takes too much time." Sana and Tzuyu are in shock, they can't believe their eyes, their friend who is normally very timid has put on the edgiest costume they have ever seen.

Sana quickly calls out to the others. "Hey, come look at this."


	14. Eventful Night

The others quickly run to Sana and Tzuyu, excited to see what they are showing. They are met by someone dressed in a black shirt with purple leather pants with a big purple jacket. "Is this Chaeyoung?" Jennie immediately recognizes her deskmate.

"That's Chaeyoung alright, but wait until you see her face." Tzuyu says.

Chaeyoung slowly takes off her helmet and shakes her head, letting her hair falls freely. Everyone collectively gasps. Chaeyoung covers her mouth with her left hand, which has a laughing mouth drawn on it, and laughs as manically as she can.

"The clown prince of crime is here." Chaeyoung says with her unusual high-pitched voice and pulls out a fake knife, aiming it at Catwoman Nayeon. "Isn't this Batsy's little kitten?"

Mina leans over to Momo and whispers. "I mean Chaeyoung always has that badass vibe but this is some serious big dick energy." Momo has no choice but to agree, Chaeyoung has the best costume by far, the clothes are on point, red lipstick with pale skin with a few fake tattoos drawn on her face and the green hair is the icing on the cake.

"Was that a wig or did you dye your hair, Chaeng?" Jihyo asks while picking Chaeyoung's hair.

"I dyed it, looks great right, I think I'm gonna keep this color for quite some time." Chaeyoung smiles cutely, showing her dimples.

While everyone is admiring Chaeyoung's costume, a voice calls out behind them, another unusual voice. "Get your hands off my Puddin." That voice is from none other than Harley Quinn, in this case Chaeyoung can't be happier, because coincidentally that's also Dahyun.

Dahyun's look is breathtaking, she is wearing a white croptop that says 'Daddy's little monster' with leather pants and leather jacket. Her hair is in pigtails, one is red and the other is blue. She walks to Chaeyoung and puts her arm around the shorter girl.

"How do I look?" Dahyun teasingly asks Chaeyoung while smirking.

If Chaeyoung wanted to say what's really on her mind, she would say Dahyun is the prettiest thing she has ever seen in her life. But instead of that, she says something even more blunt.

"Like the sexiest person I've ever laid my eyes on." Chaeyoung says with her Joker voice, hoping that everyone thinks she's just staying character.

"Thanks Puddin." Dahyun smiles brightly and hugs Chaeyoung sideways. "Hold on, if you're all here, where's Jeongyeon?" Chaeyoung asks.

"She's still not here yet." Jihyo frowns. Nayeon, who seems to spot something, walks away from the group to the school's garden. She stops in front of the bushes and calls out. "You can't hide from me."

"Who are you talking to?" The girls have followed Nayeon to the garden. "I'll show you. I learnt to use the whip when I decided that I want to be Catwoman" She tugs the whip from her waist and starts swinging it slightly.

Tzuyu worriedly leans over to Momo. "Is she serious? It seems dangerous." Momo shakes her head. "Let her, she won't be able to hurt anyone anyways." The person quickly steps out from behind the bushes, holding out her hands. "Okay, okay. Don't whip me."

The girls burst into laughter, standing in front of them is Jeongyeon as No face but she doesn't look scary at all, she looks hilarious. Jeongyeon frowns. "That's why I hid myself from you guys. You're mean. I didn't know you were going dress up like badass characters." Jeongyeon pouts and walks towards the group.

Nayeon, seeing Jeongyeon pouts cutely for the first time ever, stands on her tiptoe and pats Jeongyeon's head. "There, there. If it makes you feel better, I think you look cute." Jeongyeon is now very grateful for her face paint because they are concealing her blush. She considers herself quite rigid in terms of emotions but somehow Nayeon is having no trouble turning her into a softie every time the bunny smiles or giggles.

"Okay, let's get back to having fun, I'm not standing here to look at you people flirting." Jihyo speaks up and walks back to the main schoolyard. Seungwan quickly catches up with Jihyo. "What?" Jihyo turns to Seungwan, raising a questioning eyebrow. Seungwan doesn't say anything, instead she stares deeply into the other's eyes, winks and walks away quickly. Jihyo shakes her head, ignoring Seungwan's questionable act.  
  


Joohyun is sitting on the bench at the edge of the schoolyard, eating her ice cream while waiting for Seulgi. Her bear went to the restroom 15 minutes ago and she has a weird feeling in her stomach. Suddenly, Seulgi comes running back to her, screaming something unintelligible. Joohyun quickly stands up and hugs Seulgi tightly, hoping the calm the girl down. "What's wrong, Seul? What happened?" Seulgi doesn't answer, she shakes her head rapidly and starts sobbing a little. Due to commotion, the girls quickly gather round the bench. Joohyun calls out. "Alright, who made her cry?"

"Okay, grandma, chill out, you're with her the whole time." Jisoo holds out her hand, stopping Joohyun's rage.

"Well, she went to the restroom for a while and came back like this." Joohyun frowns and rubs Seulgi's back soothingly.

"I-I think we have to b-break up, Hyun." Seulgi hiccups. Now Joohyun is even more confused, what could possibly happened in that 15 minutes. Joy and Yeri quickly walk over to the group. "We're sorry. We didn't mean to make her cry, I don't think it's that bad." Joy speaks up and reaches over to Seulgi.

"What do you mean?" Joohyun asks, somewhat angry. "Well, you see, we were in the restroom as well and we were, ummm..." Joy trails off, nudging Yeri's shoulder.

Yeri sighs heavily and continues. "We were making out, okay? That's it. Seulgi accidentally entered the stall we were in and caught us. Then she screamed and ran out."

"YOU WERE WHAT?" The other girls are in shock. "Did we just find out two couples in a minute?" Momo puts her hands on her hair, clearly confused.

"No, Momoring. I mean, yeah, Yeri and Joy are quite surprising to me but you should have found out about Seulgi and Joohyun since earlier tonight. They're pretty obvious." Mina utters, glancing back and forth between the two couples.

Joohyun pats Seulgi's head lightly. "Is that the problem, Bear?" Seulgi shakes her head again. "No. I'm not a drama queen. Yeah, I caught them and I screamed as a joke. But when I walked back here, I got a text on my phone from my Mom." Seulgi pauses, wiping her tears with her hand. " My Dad sprained his ankle at work today."

"And?" Joohyun nods and listens intently. "He was made to carry stuff delivered to the company and he works at the technical room, he didn't have to do that work before. His boss suddenly made him do that."

"So, what does that have to do with you two?" Jisoo asks, she's clearly losing her patience. Then it hits her, she seems to know what's going on. "Your dad still works at his old company, right Seul?"

Seulgi nods slowly. Jisoo turns to Joohyun and starts explaining. "So Seulgi and I have been friends since we were little. You know that, right?" Joohyun nods. "Back when our Moms still wanted to talk to each other, my Mom introduce Seulgi's Dad to a company. More specifically, your Dad's company."

"I didn't know that. I never know anything about my Dad's work. So how did you know it was because of us, maybe it's just a coincidence." Joohyun asks Seulgi. "No, because your Dad has talked to mine about us. He said that they don't want us in a relationship."

Joohyun hugs Seulgi tightly. "I'm not breaking up with you, okay? Nothing can stand in our way. My Mom wanted to do this, now it's my turn. I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."

"How are we going to do that?" Seulgi curiously asks. Joohyun meets Jisoo's eyes and they nod, knowing the perfect time to do it.

"I'll need all the help I can get, can you and Jennie come with us?" Joohyun asks the other couple. Jisoo and Jennie nod briefly, willing to help their friend.

Joohyun cups Seulgi's face and looks at her bear with determination. "We're celebrating my parent's anniversary."


	15. Where We Belong

The group disperse after Joohyun assures them that Seulgi will be alright and she knows what to do. Some of the girls get back to the festivities and have fun but not Chaeyoung. Joohyun has already taken Seulgi home and Jihyo also decided to call it a night. Chaeyoung doesn't see any reasons to stay at the fundraiser, she has already show her friends the costume and played some of the games. Dahyun sidles up to Chaeyoung and taps her shoulder lightly. "Something on your mind? You seem a bit tense."

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "Nothing too important. I mean the fundraiser has been very fun but now there's no reason to stay anymore, I've done everything I plan to. I'm contemplating going home right now."

"I have another idea, maybe it will be fun." Dahyun cautiously says and walks towards Chaeyoung's motorbike. "Why don't we go for a ride around the city? The night is still young, why go home now?"

Chaeyoung smiles and hands Dahyun a helmet. "Sure, hop on." Dahyun smiles and takes the helmet. "Why did you bring two of these?"

"I may or may not have an idea of taking someone out on a ride." Chaeyoung chuckles and starts the engine. Dahyun quickly hops on and puts her arm loosely around Chaeyoung's waist.

Chaeyoung grabs Dahyun's hands and wraps them tighter. "I don't want you to fall off, hang on tight." Dahyun blushes and giggles, interlocking her fingers and leans on Chaeyoung's back as the other zooms out of the school. Despite the hardcore look of Chaeng's bike, the ride is somewhat peaceful to Dahyun. The lights from the lamps and buildings illuminate the night street, the steady sound of the engine and Chaeyoung's breathing makes Dahyun feels at ease, somehow. They receive a few looks from bystanders because of their costumes but since it's Halloween night, nothing special happens. The ride continues in silence, not suffocating but rather comforting, each other's presence is enough for them. Chaeyoung takes Dahyun to every place she likes to go to, an old fountain at the center of the city to her old schools, even the park she used to play at when she was little. After a couple of hours, Chaeyoung stops at Han river bank and leads Dahyun to an empty bench looking over the river. She hands Dahyun a cup of hot chocolate and stares blankly at the river, sipping her own cup slowly.

Dahyun tries to break the silence. "Do you often go here?"

Chaeyoung nods. "At night, usually. No one will interrupt me, sometimes I'll draw things, sometimes I'll just sit and think about almost anything to come to my mind. I don't know why I overthink a lot of things." She sighs and pauses.

Dahyun waits for her to continue but she doesn't. "What do you usually think of?" Dahyun grimaces, thinking that's such a bad question to ask.

"Anything. Something happens in class or in my family. Sometimes when I listen to a song, I will think what motivated the singer to write that song." She chuckles lightly. "It's a bit stupid, to be honest."

"That's not stupid, I somewhat get what you mean, it's like your mind has to have something to work with all the time. Unlike me, sometimes I just feel empty but I can't explain." Dahyun looks over to Chaeyoung.

"If anyone heard the things we said, they would think we're crazy. Especially with the costumes we have on." They both laugh out loud at Chaeyoung's statement. Silence engulfs them one more time. The only sound is the little turbulence in the river, the two girls are nursing their drink and enjoying the cool night air. Chaeyoung turns to Dahyun. "Why did you go with me?"

"I'm not in the mood to play games or anything after what happened to Seulgi. That's the thing about me, I can't seem to have fun after I witness something sad happens to other people I'm with."

"For the first time, I get what you mean. I love the girls, somehow they make you feel that you belong. I didn't have that feeling before. I was that kid in the corner with a notepad, I went to school every day and walked back alone, didn't speak to anyone except for group projects. I feel like I didn't belong at all." Chaeyoung says slowly.

Dahyun leans her head on Chaeng's shoulder. "They don't know what they missed out on." That brings a smile on Chaeyoung's face. "This feels nice." Dahyun whispers and closes her eyes. Chaeyoung absent-mindedly pats Dahyun's head, letting the girl rests on her shoulder. Chaeyoung loves this feeling, it's fulfilling in a way, a way she never actually feels before.

After a while, Chaeyoung taps Dahyun's back lightly to wake the girl up. "It's midnight, let me take you home." Dahyun nods, stretches her arms and lets her hair down. Chaeyoung hands Dahyun her jacket. "Here, wear this. It's cold." Dahyun slips on the coat and hops on the bike.

The ride to Dahyun's house is again filled with silence. Dahyun has fallen asleep while Chaeyoung is deep in thought. They arrive at Dahyun's house after 20 minutes, Dahyun goes to unlock the door then she hesitates and turns back to Chaeyoung. She steps closer to the shorter girl, neither of them knows what to say at that moment, so Chaeyoung doesn't say anything. Instead, she holds Dahyun's cheek and gently presses her lips on Dahyun's. Dahyun smiles a little and puts her arms on Chaeyoung's neck, kissing back slowly. The kiss lasts way until they have to gasp for air and Chaeyoung pulls away with a satisfying smile on her face. Dahyun chuckles lightly. "I was about to ask you what color should I dye my hair back?"

"Oh..." Chaeyoung breaths out, looking everywhere but Dahyun's eyes.

"But I didn't know how much I needed that kiss. Anyway, same time next week?"

Chaeyoung smiles fondly and pecks Dahyun's lips one more time. "Sure, I'll pick you up at 10. You should go inside now. It's late."

"You don't need to find where you belong anymore. Goodnight, Puddin." Dahyun walks back to her door.

"Oh, Dahyun?" Chaeyoung calls. Dahyun turns back and raises her eyebrows. "Purple, I think you'll look beautiful in it. I mean you'll look great anyways. You know what I mean. Goodnight." Chaeyoung quickly wears her helmet to conceal her blush and zooms off.

Dahyun chuckles and shakes her head with a big smile on her face. "Dork." She knows when she goes to sleep tonight, she will miss that green-haired dork.

Meanwhile, at the front gate of the school, Sana is waiting for Mark to drive her home. The fundraiser officially ended a few minutes ago and everyone has gone home. Mark's car arrives after a few minutes and she steps in.

"Did you have fun tonight?" Mark asks.

"Yeah, the girls went all out tonight, costumes and everything. It's great, how about you?" Sana excitedly says while looking the ring Tzuyu gave her.

"Yeah, the boys are great, as per usual, nothing special though." Mark glances at Sana. "What is that ring? I didn't remember you wearing it earlier tonight."

"Oh, this? Tzuyu gave me that, she won a game and got this as a prize. It's cute right?" Sana holds out her hand to Mark, showing off the ring.

"Sure, babe. You should hang out with me and my friends sometimes. They're not insensitive with girls or anything." Mark suggests.

"Yeah, sure. They're not really my kind of people, I'm sorry Mark. Besides, my class do almost everything together." Sana's phone suddenly rings, showing a text from Tzuyu.

**ChooChoo: **Hey, Sana. Momo asked me to go to an escape game with her, she said she has a plan for something. There will be Mina, do you want to come with?

Sana smiles brightly upon seeing the text. She has an idea of what Momo may be doing.

**Squirrel: **Sure. I'd love to.


	16. Dinner With The Families

Seulgi is in her room, trying on different dresses to make sure she looks presentable in front of Joohyun's family. She has five different dresses on her bed and she's trying every one of them on. Then her phone lights up with a call from Joohyun. She picks up and holds the phone to her ear. "Hi Hyun."

"I'm at the front, Bear. Come down here when you're done, okay?" Joohyun speaks.

"I'm still choosing a dress, I have to look good enough. It's a fancy party and we will have to mingle with people." Seulgi sighs.

"You don't have to mingle or anything. That's why we have Jisoo there to help us. We're there on a mission and you don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I'll be with you at all times." Joohyun assures her girlfriend, her voice filled with determination.

"Okay, I'll be right down." As she is going down the stairs, her Mom appears in front of her. "Where are you going, sweetheart? What's with the fancy dress?"

"I'm going to Joohyun's parents' anniversary party. She'll talk to her parents about us. I don't want Dad to go through all this." Seulgi's Dad slowly stands up from the couch. "Honey, you don't need to do this, it's just a few errands, I can handle this, you and Joohyun don't need to worry."

Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. Seulgi's Mom goes to open it to reveal Joohyun standing there with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping and I'm sorry Mr. Kang for getting you in all this trouble. It's my responsibility and I love your daughter. I have to fix this, I feel really guilty to you and to Seulgi."

Seulgi's Mom comes closer and hugs Joohyun. "Thank you dear."

"I promise to keep Seulgi safe and happy. I won't disappoint you." Seulgi and Joohyun say their goodbyes to Seulgi's parents and drive to Joohyun's house. When they arrive, Seulgi is in shock. Sure, she knows that Joohyun's family is wealthy but in front of her right now is a mansion that is twice, be three times as big as her house. A row of cars parked in the yard, which she guesses are from the guests of the party. Jisoo and Jennie are already waiting in front of the gate, Jennie looks a little on edge but Jisoo looks absolutely confident. Joohyun steps out of the car and holds the door open for Seulgi. They walk towards the waiting couple and Joohyun speaks to Jisoo. "Have you seen them?"

Jisoo shakes her head. "Probably inside, haven't seen anyone important yet. Let's just go in." She takes Jennie's hand and lead her in with Joohyun and Seulgi follow suit. The staff of the mansion are clearly surprised, they haven't seen Joohyun shows up at this party for years now and now she suddenly appears with her Jisoo and her girlfriend in tow, the two people her Mom would be furious to see. The four girls walk to the mini bar and Joohyun asks the person to get them four champagnes. "Enjoy." Joohyun hands the glasses to the girls.

Jisoo downs her glasses in one go making Jennie widens her eyes. "Are you okay, Chu? You are intense today." Jennie asks with concern.

"I'm fine, it's been a while since I last set foot into this place." Jisoo sets her glass down and holds Jennie's hand, assuring the worried girl that she's ok.

"Now what do we do?" Seulgi nervously asks.

"Wait for my Mom to know we're here. That shouldn't take long, considering that I have never showed up at this party for the last 3 years." Joohyun sips her champagne slowly. And she was right, it doesn't take long. About a minute later, a staff comes up to them and asks them to meet her Mom at the living room.

"Hi Mom." Joohyun confidently greets her Mom despite the furious glare her Mom is giving her.

"What is this Joohyun?"

"What is what?" Joohyun feigns ignorance.

"Almost all of my guests know that I want you to marry a man from a wealthy family just like ours. I told them you were waiting for the right time to start dating. Now you appear at the party and do this. Another thing, why is a Kim here?" She says and gestures at Jisoo and Seulgi.

Jisoo is about to retort but Joohyun puts her hand on Jisoo's shoulder. "She's my cousin, we're pretty close friends. And yes, I was waiting for the right time to start dating and I'm here to introduce you to my girlfriend, Seulgi."

"I know who this girl is, her Dad is a little employee at one of our companies. She doesn't deserve you." Her Mom directs her comments at Seulgi.

Seulgi fidgets nervously at the hem of her dress, her tears threatening to burst out. Jennie quickly comes up and hugs her while the cousins walks closer to Joohyun's Mom. Joohyun sternly talks to her Mom. "I'll be the judge of that Mom and later on at the party I'll announce the news to our beloved guests." After finishing the sentence, Joohyun struts out of the room and leads Seulgi with her.

"We'll talk after the party, Joohyun. Don't you dare do that!" Her Mom angrily calls after her.

Seulgi is silently sobbing on Joohyun's shoulder while Jennie is comforting a fuming Jisoo. "I swear if that singer isn't finishing the song soon, I'm coming up there and take the microphone from him." Jisoo grits her teeth and looks towards the stage.

As soon as the singer finishes, Joohyun and Seulgi rushes up to the stage. Joohyun taps the microphone to gather the attention of the guests. "Hello, guests. If you don't mind, I'd like to make a toast." Joohyun holds her champagne glass up in the air and continues. "To start the toast, I'd like us to give a huge applause for our hosts today, my parents." The guests applause loudly, cheers ringing throughout the room. "They have been together for 20 years now. And that is my life goal. I want to find someone I want to be with for the rest of my life. So in the spirit of love, I'm here to announce my girlfr-" Her microphone is suddenly cut. Her Mom slowly walks to the sound area to control. Meanwhile, Jennie sneaks up from behind the stage and hands the couple 3 more microphones and Jisoo 'accidentally' spills champagne on Joohyun's Mom. Jisoo winks at Joohyun, signalling for her to continue.

"As I was saying, I'd like to introduce my girlfriend, Kang Seulgi. She is my friend at school, a talented dancer and the sweetest girl I've ever met. And I can proudly say that, aside from her, there's no one I'd rather be with." Gasps and murmurs arise from the audience. The whole room stay silent for a few minutes. The four girls hold their breath, nervous about what's to come. Then thunderous applause erupt from the audience, congratulating the happy couple. Seulgi bursts into tears after holding it the whole night. Joohyun envelops her girlfriend in a big hug then she reaches for the microphone and says one last thing. "I love you Mom. Thank you for this opportunity." She immediately takes Seulgi's hand and leads her towards the door. Jisoo follows right behind, carrying Jennie on her back. The applause is still roaring as they make their way to their cars.

"Oh my God, that was epic." Jisoo cheers loudly with Jennie still on her back. Joohyun laughs loudly and cups Seulgi's face. "We don't have to worry about anything anymore, with the guests' reaction, my Mom can't prohibit our relationship."

Seugi smiles and pecks Joohyun's lips. "Where are we going next?"

"We're going back to your house. We have something planned for you." Jisoo says and gets into her car with Jennie.

Seulgi knocks on her house's door and to her surprise, the person opening it is Jisoo's Mom. "Come on in girls, dinner is ready." Joohyun and Seulgi are confused as to what Jisoo's Mom is doing here when Jisoo speaks up. "I asked my Mom to come here, I figure we should have a proper celebration."

They take their seats at the dining table. The girls are telling the parents about their epic plan earlier and Jisoo is exaggerating it greatly. "The place were absolutely packed. I have to muscle my way through with Jennie on my back and leading Joohyun and Seulgi out."

Joohyun laughs while shaking her head. "They literally make a way for us to run out, Jisoo. You make it looked to epic."

Seugi's Mom hugs her daughter tightly. "I'm so glad you got Joohyun and your friends to help you. Your Dad will find another job, okay? You don't need to worry anymore."

Jisoo's Mom reaches over and holds Joohyun's hand. "I know we don't see each other a lot but I'm glad you found Seul. For what it's worth, I'm happy that you and Jisoo are friends again."

Seugi's Mom quickly buts in. "Speaking of Jisoo, your best friend and your cousin are a couple. What about you, dear? Got anyone in mind?"

Jisoo, who has been talkative for the whole night, suddenly goes completely silent. Jennie smirks and asks Jisoo. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Oh, a cat got her tongue alright, because she has her sight set on the cat-eyed girl beside her. Jennie then chuckles and puts her arm around Jisoo's shoulder. "We're getting to know each other. We've been on few dates."

The night goes on with jokes and stories here and there. Throughout the night, Joohyun looks around the table. She sees Jisoo and Jennie joking around and flirting and Seulgi laughing out loud and enjoying herself. She realizes she doesn't have to be alone anymore. She has found the family she always wanted.


	17. All According To Plan

Mina is now sitting in her car in front of Sana's house, waiting to pick the squirrel up for their hangout with Momo and Tzuyu at the escape game. She is playing PUBG while jamming to some music on her car's radio when someone knocks on the car door. She turns around and sees Sana smiles brightly and waves at her excitedly. She quickly unlocks the car door for Sana to hop on.

"You seem extra bubbly today." Mina comments while plugging out her earphones.

"Oh, I don't know. I just have a really good feeling about today." Sana turns to Mina and smiles mischievously. Momo has texted her and Tzuyu that she will confess to Mina today, she has already written a confession letter and all that.

"What's with the weird look?" Mina furrows her eyebrows but shrugs off the feeling anyways and starts driving to the place.

"Hey, Mina. When did you leave the fundraiser? I remembered leaving pretty late and you still hadn't left." Sana asks while stealing Mina's coffee at the cup holder.

"Yah, that's my drink. Anyways, Momo and I were some of the last people to leave the place. I think we tried every single games we can." Mina chuckles when she remembers how much fun she had with Momo and also how the raccoon insisted that she brought home all the rewards they got.

Sana quickly pulls out her phone and texts Tzuyu, she wants the Taiwanese to update Momo about how likely she will succeed today.

Mina glances over, trying to look at the text but Sana quickly turns off the screen and stuffs it back in her pocket. "You're really suspicious today, Satang." Sana just simply shrugs, trying to compose herself, that was a close call. "I've never seen that. Is that a new ring? It's beautiful."

Sana smiles again and holds her hand out to Mina, proudly showing off the ring. "It's beautiful, isn't it? Tzuyu gave it to me."

Mina smiles fondly. "Where did she get it? Did she tell you? I thought it was Mark but he wouldn't have good taste."

Sana pouts and looks at Mina seriously. "You still don't like Mark?"

"No, it's not that. He's just not my kind of people. He's a bit irresponsible and loud, but hey, he treats you fine and you like being with him. That's good enough for me." Mina explains clearly, she doesn't want to upset her best friend.

"Thanks Mina. And Tzuyu told me she won this from a game at the fundraiser."

Mina frowns, clearly confused. "I'm 100 percent sure that Momo and I raided all the game stalls and none of them gave a ring as a reward. You know, the school budget and all that. Maybe she just wants to give you a gift and she doesn't want it to be awkward."

Sana puts a finger on her chin. "Maybe, we grow a lot closer during our time at Mr. Kwon's math tutor class. We talk about almost everything, you know. We also take turns to bring snacks for both of us." Sana chuckles, she doesn't realize that she really enjoys those little things.

Mina smiles and keeps driving, internally excited for the day ahead.  
  


Meanwhile, Momo and Tzuyu are already waiting at the escape game place. Momo has been pacing around restlessly for the last 15 minutes and Tzuyu is getting really tired. "Momo, why don't you take a seat, you're making me dizzy."

Momo holds her hands on her head. "I can't Tzuyu. What if she rejects me? Is the letter good enough? Should I write more? Maybe it's too cheesy, give me the letter." Tzuyu quickly stands up from the bench and holds the letter above her head, knowing Momo won't be able to reach it.

"I've read this five times already and even I'm a bit moved by it. The letter is fine, you don't have to do anything else. Besides, I can tell she likes you too, just be yourself, don't panic." Tzuyu calmly says while hugging Momo.

"Thanks Tzu, that's why I ask you to come with me today. I need you for this." Momo breaths slowly, rubbing her stomach.

"Wow, that bunny would be disappointed if she heard that."

"I mean she would know what to say but I'm not gonna hear the end of her teasing." Momo frowns at the thought. As the two are talking, Mina turns the corner and stops the car at the door. Sana gets out and greets Tzuyu and Momo. "Hi Momoring, hi ChooChoo."

Momo turns to look at Sana. "Yah, Momoring is Mina's nickname for me, it's for her only. And Choo Choo, really?"

"What? It sounds cute and Tzuyu's not complaining. Right, Choo?" Sana looks up at Tzuyu and smiles sweetly. Tzuyu simply nods and leans down to drink from Sana's coffee.

"Oh, great. You two can have that coffee." Mina comes back from the parking lot. "Let's go get the tickets." Momo holds Mina's hand and drag her to the ticket counter.

"Which stage do you guys like?" Mina peers over the list of stages and asks.

"Your choice." Momo speaks up only to be interrupted by Sana.

"If you let her choose, she will choose an easy enough room for her. And if she solved it fast, you wouldn't have the chance to do it." Sana smacks Momo's head lightly.

"Let's take 'The Heist'. I heard that's a really good one." Tzuyu speaks up and chooses the most difficult one. Mina buys the tickets and the staff quickly ushers them to the room. They have to leave their phones and other stuff outside but Tzuyu tucks the letter safely inside her jacket. They steps in to the first room and reads the instruction. "So, we have to find a key hidden somewhere in here to move on to the next room." Mina reads the instructions out loud and starts looking. The first room is a study. Bookcases surrounding them with one table and one desk in the middle of the room, on top of the desk is a box with a lock on it. Sana and Tzuyu starts looking for clues at the bookcases while Mina looks at the table intently. Tzuyu hands the letter to Momo, who is fidgeting the hem of her sweater nervously. Sana signals at Momo telling her to go for it. "Hey, Mitang." Momo taps Mina's shoulder lightly.

"Huh, Momoring?" Mina asks but doesn't look at Momo. "Have you found a clue?"

"No, bu-" Momo is about to continue.

"Then keep looking, come on, come on." Mina claps her hands together.

"Why don't you say anything?" Sana hastily whispers to Momo.

"I don't know, she's so focused, what can I do?"

"That's the thing, she's extremely competitive, you have to make a move or she's just gonna keep solving these things." Sana rushes Momo. Suddenly, the three girls hear a click, they look at the desk and see Mina opening the box with the key of the first room.

"Come on, slowpokes. You need to step up your game." Mina laughs out loud and unlocks the door, stepping into the next room. The next room is way more complicated. The door this time has a keypad, three fail attempts and they will automatically fail. "So the clue is back in the old room, let's go back." Mina struts back to the other room.

Sana and Tzuyu looks at each other, knowing Momo won't make a move soon, they will take matters into their own hands. Tzuyu randomly punches in a code and Sana elbows the keypad rather harshly, making two fail attempts. Mina rushes back to the room. "What did you guys do?"

Sana and Tzuyu simultaneously holds up peace signs. "Sorry, we got the codes wrong two times. We will go back to the other room to find clues, you rest here with Momo, okay?" Sana pushes Mina to sit down, Tzuyu pats Momo's shoulder and they leave the room now dimly lit with red light.

Momo slowly takes out the letter in a pink envelope and hands it to Mina. Mina raises her eyebrows. "Is this a clue?"

"Just open it, Mitang." Momo grits her teeth and keeps her eyes shut tight.

_"Hey Mitang,_

_This is strange right, since no one writes letters anymore. Heh, but here goes. Where to start? Might as well just start with how I feel about you. The first day in class, you catch my eyes immediately. You are elegant but somehow cute and sexy at the same time. As I get to know you more, I only fall even deeper. Your soft voice feels like the softest music that I want to listen to every time I goes to sleep. Your competitiveness whenever you do anything is pretty hot and I love your determination. Not to mention, you are a very clever girl, you seem to know everything about this world. To the other little things about you, your gummy smile light up my world without trying and every single little moles on your face just makes you even more beautiful. When I take you home on Halloween night, when you fall asleep in my car, I take quite a few minutes just to look at your face before waking you up. I just want to savor every second I have with you. So, what I'm trying to say here is, I like you Mina, I really really really like you. I hope you will give me a chance to be with you, to take care of you._

_Hopefully still your friend after you read this,_

_Your Hirai Momoring"_

Mina smiles fondly, tears about to fall from her eyes, she admit to herself, the letter is extremely cute, it's very Momo. And she likes that raccoon as well, but hey, she's in the mood to tease her future girlfriend. "Open your eyes, Momo."

Momo slowly opens her eyes, scared because Mina calls her with her name. She stares deeply into Mina's eyes, searching for an answer. "What are you going to say, Momo? Say it to me." Mina keeps a stoic expression but inside she's holding back her laughter.

Momo grimaces. "You already know Mitang, I can't say it, I'm scared." Momo whines like a little baby, kicking her legs in the process and gives Mina her signature puppy eyes.

Mina knows she can't resist anymore, leans over and holds Momo's forehead, giving it a little kiss. "My, my. Aren't you a baby Momoring." Momo still doesn't know Mina's answer, she doesn't want to jump to conclusions. Mina immediately realizes this, puts her arm around Momo's neck and pulls the raccoon closer. "I like you too, Momoring. I will be your girlfriend." She coos softly and pulls Momo's neck to kiss the other. Sana is clinging on Tzuyu's arm the whole time cheers loudly while Tzuyu slowly claps. Just at that moment, the alarm sounds, signalling they ran out of time in the rooms. They rushes out of the place, Momo and Mina walks hand in hand, leaving their two friends behind with the backpacks.

Momo quickly says to Mina. "Wanna go somewhere else? I don't want to end the day here." Mina accepts and they quickly runs to Momo's car.

Sana yells after them. "Yah, how will Tzuyu and I get home? You guys took us here, remember?" Mina turns back and tosses Sana her car keys then leaves with Momo. Tzuyu takes the keys from Sana's hand and they walk to the parking lot. "Do you want to go home Sana? I'll take you home."

Sana shakes her head. "Nah, too early. I still want to do something else." The two look at each other for a short moment then chuckles. They know exactly what the other is thinking. Tzuyu holds the door open for Sana. "Ice cream it is then."


	18. Friends?

After a couple of hours of driving around the city, Sana and Tzuyu have decided to stop for lunch. They are now sitting in a private booth in Tokyo Deli. "You have to try the food here, it's delicious. I'm Japanese and I approve." Sana excitedly says while taking out her phone. "Come take a selfie with me." Sana waves Tzuyu over to sit with her. The taller sits down and keeps a small distance from Sana, but Sana being Sana, she puts one arm around Tzuyu's shoulders and pulls her closer, making their cheeks slightly press against each other. "Smile." Sana smiles brightly and takes the photo.

Flustered, Tzuyu slowly returns to her seat opposite Sana. "What are you doing with the photo?"

Sana chuckles lightly. "I'm posting it Instagram." Sana hands the her phone to Tzuyu to let her see the post. The photo is absolutely cute, they are leaning their heads on each other, Sana smiling from ear to ear, while Tzuyu gives her signature eye smile. The caption says 'Lunch with **@tzuyoda**, we helped putting a couple together today 🚑🚨'

Tzuyu chuckles when she sees the comments, it doesn't take long for the girls to guess Mina and Momo are officially dating. "Jisoo and Seungwan figure it out. They're fast." Tzuyu says while handing the phone back to Sana. The waiter comes up to their table and hands them two menus. Sana peers over the food, trying to choose one of them when the waiter suggests. "We currently have a couple set, there will be two main dishes, three side dishes, two desserts and two drinks."

"No, we're no-" Tzuyu is about to protest when Sana interrupts her. "Thanks, we'll have that." Sana winks at Tzuyu and starts giving the detailed orders. "That's a lot of food and it's so cheap. I'm not gonna pass on that offer."

Soon enough, their orders arrive and they start digging in. "Yah, why are you stealing my food?" Tzuyu whines and glares playfully at Sana. The Japanese just shrugs and points at her plate. "You can have some of mine. Sharing is caring, Tzu." Sana casually says and takes a sip from Tzuyu's drink.

"Say, our class is fast. I mean how many couples are there?" Tzuyu tries to come up with something to talk to Sana

"I think I'm the first one in our class to start dating. There's Joohyun and Seulgi, they're official. I've heard that Dahyun and Chaeyoung have been seeing each other recently." Sana lists out.

"I think Jennie and Jisoo are also dating and Mina and Momo today as well. Oh wait, Sooyoung and Yerim outed themselves on Halloween night." Tzuyu adds and they laugh out loud.

"Have you got your eyes on anyone?" Sana asks while smiling teasingly.

Tzuyu gulps hard and turns her attention to the food. "No one, probably I haven't been actively looking." She stares blankly at Sana, managing a small smile.

Sana quickly changes topic. "Where did you get me the ring?"

Tzuyu frowns and answers. "I got it at the fundraiser, I thought I had already told you."

Sana chuckles. "One word only. Mina. She knows everything, Tzu. She told me this wasn't from Halloween. Besides, if you want to give me a gift, I won't refuse or something. You know? You're one of my best friends now."

Tzuyu nods. "Yeah sure. About the ring, I had to ask my Dad to get it for me, it's not expensive, don't worry."

After the meal, they decide to go window-shopping at the mall nearby. While they are walking, Sana suddenly stops and stares into a shop. "What are you looking at Sana?" Sana points at the outfit on the mannequin and looks at Tzuyu, then looks back to the outfit.

"I think that would look good on you, I mean that leather jacket though." Sana smirks and looks at Tzuyu expectantly.

"No." Tzuyu answers blankly.

"Come on, just try it on. I insist." Sana says with her cutest voice knowing Tzuyu can't resist it.

Tzuyu sighs and nods, letting Sana lead her into the shop. Sana leaves Tzuyu on a bench near the fitting room and starts roaming around the shop. When she returns, she has a stack of clothes on her arms and hands them over to Tzuyu. "Try these on, it's a full outfit."

Tzuyu slowly steps into the fitting room and change into the new outfit. She has to admit Sana has good eyes. The squirrel chose for her a red shirt with black leather jacket and dark blue ripped jeans. She checks herself out in the mirror for a while before opening the door to show Sana. Sana looks up from her phone and her jaw drops immediately.

"Wait here. I think I found just the perfect thing." Sana runs off and comes back with a grey cap on her hands. "Tie your hair up and wear this." Tzuyu ties her hair into a bun and puts on the cap. Sana gasps and giggles. "Ooooh, Tzuyu-oppa."

Tzuyu blushes and hides her face. Sana pulls Tzuyu's hands down. "Come stand there and let me take a picture."

"Noooo. I don't want to, it's cringe." Tzuyu whines and crosses her arms.

"Come on, one picture only. Please, you look so handsome." Sana pleads.

Tzuyu gives in again and poses for Sana. Sana cheers happily and sends the picture to Tzuyu. "I'm gonna post this as well." At this point, Tzuyu is too tired to protest, she just sighs and stands behind Sana to see what she posts.

"Found this hottie at the mall. He said he's single 😉" Sana mutters and types the cation then posts the photo. She turns around to Tzuyu. "Change back to your clothes. I'll pay."

Tzuyu frowns. "You don't need to. It's expensive." Tzuyu lowers her voice to a whisper.

"I want to buy it for you. You bought me a ring Yoda. Just let me."

After buying the outfit, the two girls walk out of the shop. "What shall we do next?" Tzuyu asks. Sana glances at the taller girl and smirks. After another hour in the mall, they are now carrying a dozen of bags from many different stores. Tzuyu chuckles after seeing Sana struggles with the bags. "I thought you say we're only window shopping." She holds out her arm to help Sana with some of the bags.

"You're going to the mall with Minatozaki Sana. And she doesn't do window shopping." Sana joking says.

"Does Minatozaki Sana often talk in third person?" Tzuyu pokes Sana's cheek and the two laughs.

"Sana?" A voice calls out from behind them making them turn around. Mark jogs towards them with a wide grin. Sana quickly runs to him and wraps him in a hug. "What are you doing here?" He asks while kissing Sana's cheek.

"I'm shopping with Tzuyu. We went out with Mina and Momo earlier today but they ditched us." Sana chuckles and leads him towards Tzuyu.

"Hi Tzuyu." Tzuyu simply nods while keeping her stoic expression. "Mark."

"Come, let me take you home Sana." Mark holds Sana and starts to drag her away.

Sana abruptly pulls her arm back, surprising both Tzuyu and Mark. "I still have some plans with Tzuyu."

"It's late Sana, come on." Sana takes a look at her watch and glares at Mark. "It's eight. And we're teenagers, I'm pretty sure I can stay out a little longer."

"Okay then. I'll be with my friends then." Mark says then struts away.

Sana hooks her arm with Tzuyu's and drag the Taiwanese to the arcade. She makes a beeline towards the boxing machine and puts on the gloves. "Hand me two coins, Tzu." Tzuyu doesn't ask and hands over the coins, letting Sana unleash on the machine.

"Why.Does.He.Always.Treat.Me.Like.A.Baby?" Sana yells each word after every punch and right now Tzuyu is genuinely scared. She didn't know Sana packs such a punch. The scores on the game are still rising at a rapid pace. Sana stops after a while and flops down on one of the benches nearby. She pats the space next to her, telling Tzuyu to sit.

"He's always like that. Always wants to know where I go, always ask what I'm doing. But when I ask him those things, he always says he went out with his friends, why should I bother?" Sana sighs and rubs her face with her hands. "I mean he's a good guy, but he's also an ass sometimes." They sit in silence for a while, the music from the games plays in the background while their minds race with different thoughts. Tzuyu glances over at Sana and sees the other girl is staring at her. The multi-colored neon lights illuminate their faces, making their faces look like they're glowing, at least that's how Sana's face looks like to Tzuyu. They keep their gaze on each other for a long while, none of them wants to end the moment. In a split second, Tzuyu actually thinks Sana is leaning closer but she looks away too soon to be sure.

"I think we should go home. We have classes early tomorrow." Sana nods slowly and stands up while Tzuyu gather the shopping bags and they walk out of the mall together. The car ride back to Sana's house is silent, not deafening, but not comfortable either. None of them comes up with anything to talk about and it turns into a staring contest between them and the traffic lights at every intersections. Tzuyu pulls up in front of Sana's house and unlocks the car door for her. Sana reaches behind to grab her bags and slowly steps out of the car. She lingers behind for a while then decides to turn back and look at Tzuyu. "I had fun today. Despite all that thing earlier." Sana manages a small smile. Tzuyu smiles back. "Me too. We should do this again sometimes. Just us, maybe. If you want to, of course." Sana giggles at Tzuyu. "I would love to."  
  


"Mom, Dad. I'm home." Tzuyu arrives at her house. Her parents are having dinner while watching TV. "Hi, honey." Her Mom comes up and kisses her cheek. "Did you have fun today?" Her Dad asks.

"Yeah, sure. It's good." Tzuyu answers simply.

"I don't want to annoy you with this again, but who gives their friend a ring as a very first gift?" Her Mom chuckles. Her Dad slowly raises his hand and her Mom nods. "Exactly, we're not just friends." Tzuyu chuckles lightly, shakes her head and makes her way upstairs to her room.

Meanwhile, Sana is about to go to sleep when she remembers she hasn't taken off Tzuyu's ring. She is about to slip it off then she hesitates, a small smile appears on her face and she just leaves it on.

The two girls' phones suddenly ring with a notification from Instagram. Jisoo commented on their selfie earlier today.

"@tzuyoda @m.sana Are you two sure you're not on a date yourselves? 😉😉 " The question is easy, they're not, but strangely enough, the two girls have to think hard about their answers. They both like the comment, turn off their phones and go to sleep. That problem is for another day, they don't want to ruin a perfect day like this.


	19. The Obstacle Named Friendship

It's one of those days again, the weather is sunny but not too much, the kind of weather that makes people feel at ease and energized. But that doesn't apply to Tzuyu, in days like these she just want to curl up on her bed with a book or a movie on her phone and waste the rest of her day. Unfortunately for her, being a high school student doesn't allow her to do that. It it lunchtime and she is now sitting on the bench at the secluded corner of the school's garden, her favorite spot in the whole school, with a sandwich on her right hand and the Literature textbook on the other. It's not that she doesn't like eating with the girls, but the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of the corner always helps her concentrate better, especially when it's only two weeks until the final exams of her first school year. At first, no one actually knows about the spot but after a week of her suddenly disappearing somewhere, Nayeon and Jisoo quickly discover Tzuyu's precious hiding place from the world. She is reading through her notes on one of the short stories in the textbook while munching on her ham and egg sandwich and she doesn't enjoy this at all. She never lives up to their teacher's expectation in the subject. Sure, she knows and understands the meaning of the stories and poems but she can't find a good way to express that through writing. Sometimes she wonders how Jisoo does all that so effortlessly. She looks up from the book when she hears the small sound of footsteps approaching.

"Hi there. Mind if I join you?" Nayeon smiles, showing her bunny teeth. She has a few books on her arms and a lunchbox. Tzuyu quickly scoots over to make room for Nayeon.

"Sorry to disturb your alone time. But I'm ditched by the others, I don't wanna eat alone." Nayeon slowly opens her lunchbox and starts digging in.

"Where are the others?" Tzuyu asks, still keeping her attention on the textbook.

"Well, you know Momo and Mina, they always spend their lunch break together. But this is new, Lisa took Rosie out for a coffee." It would be a lie if Tzuyu and Nayeon say they aren't a little bit jealous of Momo. It's been 5 months since Momo confessed to Mina and they are still attached by the hip, they are that kind of couple that will probably get married later on and grow old together or something like that. Rosie is a whole different story. She is one of the girls that doesn't actually have a crush on anyone. She and Lisa have a 'Tom and Jerry' kind of friendship and they never went further than holding hands, not even flirting, although they grab a coffee together at least once a week.

Tzuyu sighs heavily and puts the book down, these short stories are giving her a headache. She glances over to Nayeon's lunch box and sees the most delicious spaghetti she's ever seen. Nayeon quickly meets Tzuyu's gaze and she holds the fork to Tzuyu's mouth. "Here, try some." Tzuyu mutters a small 'thank you' and takes a bite. She is genuinely surprised, the food tastes even better than it looks.

"Good, hmm?" Nayeon speaks up, interrupting Tzuyu's thoughts.

"It's awesome, where did you get it?"

"Jeonggie made it." Nayeon says with a small smile, her bottom lip between her teeth and a light shade of pink on her cheek. Then she quickly shakes her head and turns back to her food, her face full of emotions.

"Are you going to tell her?" It doesn't take Tzuyu long to know what Nayeon's thinking. Nayeon just shakes her head lightly, her hands unconsciously play with the food.

"It's killing me, Tzuyu. I think she kinda has an idea already but I don't want to ruin what we have. Maybe she doesn't want me to say it as well. I mean I'd rather stay like this than say it and lose her in the progress." Nayeon sighs and finishes her food. "A lunch box every Tuesday is enough to make me happy."

"I don't know if this helps or anything but I'm just gonna say it anyways. You two look good together. You understand each other, you always have fun with each other, I mean the only thing missing is that you two don't call each other girlfriends."

Nayeon chuckles and shrugs. "Maybe, I don't know. If it happens, it happens. If it feels right, I'll take the leap. How about you?"

Tzuyu shakes her head. "What about me?"

Nayeon nods and hugs Tzuyu tightly. "Oh, another reason I come here is to tell you that we don't have classes this afternoon, we can't leave school, but you know. I'll leave you to it. Call me if you need anything okay?" Nayeon squeezes Tzuyu in one more hugs then turns away.

Tzuyu is again left alone with her thoughts. Nayeon has been her friends long enough to know her mental defense mechanism. The classic 'What about me?' question is her way to say 'There's nothing I want to share.'. In reality, she has quite a few things on her mind. Momo and Mina's relationship is five months old means that it's been that same amount of time since she and Sana had that moment in the arcade. That moment still hasn't got out of her head. They hangout with each other a few more times after that and Tzuyu always has a blast when she's with the bubbly Sana. They never mention the arcade or Mark during their time together. Tzuyu always drops Sana home, they always share a glance that lasts longer than it should, Tzuyu always waits for Sana to go inside then leaves and the process repeats when they meet at Mr. Kwon's math class. Tzuyu knows that it's unhealthy to keep her emotions to herself but what can she do, her friends are either happy in their relationship or having trouble themselves. She sighs again and closes her eyes, trying to enjoy the rest of her break.  
  


Meanwhile, at the coffee shop across the street. Lisa and Rosie are sitting together in a booth in the corner of the shop. Rosie is helping Lisa revising Math for the upcoming tests. "So, that's how you solve it. Go on, try doing the next few problems. I'll go buy something to eat."

"Sure." Lisa forces a smile and pretend to holds up her pen. She doesn't actually have that much of a problem with Math. She can totally do the easier problems and she doesn't care about the more difficult ones, she's not Mina or Seungwan after all. She wants to spend time with Rosie and possibly ask her out. Oh, who is she kidding? The whole class knows that she and Rosie go out together at least once every week, but they never consider those as dates, just two friends grabbing a coffee. Rosie returns to the table a few minutes later with a muffin on her hand. She takes Lisa's notebook and checks.

"Not bad, you got this pretty quick. We can move on to the next one." Rosie once again starts talking about the Math problems and solving a few examples. Lisa doesn't pay much attention to those things. Instead she is looking at Rosie's face, how it is being lit up by the sun rays going through the windows, how Rosie frowns a little when she concentrates, how her hand clutches the pen a bit too tight, the sweet Aussie accent that she has grown fond of and the small smile she sees whenever Rosie finishes solving a problem. When it's her turn to solve the problem again, she looks up at Rosie. "Chaeng-ah, can we make a bet?"

Rosie chuckles and looks at Lisa. "What do you mean? What kind of bet?"

"I mean a bet like if I got an 8 in this Math test, I get to take you out." Lisa hesitantly says, avoiding Rosie's gaze. Rosie, however, is completely confused. "What? We go out all the time, every week Lalisa."

Lisa sighs and corrects herself. "I mean like I take you out on a date."

"A friendly date." Rosie repeats, still keeping a neutral expression.

Lisa can't believe her ears, she was about to ask if Rosie is okay but then she remembers who she is talking to. "No, Chaeng. I mean a romantic date, I want to try if this works or not. If it didn't work, perhaps, we could just be friends, I don't know, what do you think?"

"Okay." Rosie answers simply and immediately.

"That's it. You're okay with it?" Lisa is once again surprised.

"Yeah. I know you too well now Lisa, a date would be completely fine."

"So I can hold your hands and hug you and possibly kiss you goodbye and all that." Lisa excitedly says, eyes light up with excitement.

"Hold your horses, Lalisa. You have to get a 10." Rosie smirks internally but keeps a straight face outside.

"What? Wae? I'm not Mina. Just an 8, please." Lisa whines like a baby and shakes Rosie's arm.

"Okay, I'll meet you in the middle. A 9, that's the best I can do. Do we have a deal?" Rosie holds our her hand and Lisa happily takes it. The Thai immediately bolts out of the coffee shop while Rosie calls after her. "Where are you going?"

"Finding Mina, I need her help, I'm getting you on that date Chaeng." Lisa doesn't even turn around and keeps walking towards the school.

Rosie shakes her head, smiling at her best friend and does a little victory dance in her seat. She sips her coffee slowly, satisfied with the sweetness of the drink. On the table, two packets of sugar are unopened, it isn't the coffee Rosie is tasting, it's Lisa's smile she's thinking of.

The school bell rings, signalling the end of a tiring school day. The girls quickly pack their bags and leave. Tzuyu is walking towards the school gate when someone pats her on the shoulder. "Hey Tzuyu, can you help me give this back to Nayeon? I have to run." Jeongyeon hands her a hairpin, quickly says thanks and runs off into the crowd. Tzuyu is confused as to what just happened when Nayeon and Rosie appear right behind her. "Oh hey bunny, is this yours?"

Nayeon smiles when she sees the hairpin. "Yeah, lucky you found it, I lost it at the garden this afternoon when I had lunch with you."

Tzuyu nods slowly, she doesn't tell Nayeon that it was Jeongyeon who found the pin. It doesn't take her long to connect the dots. She rubs her face and mutters to herself. "You'd better treat her right, Yoo Jeongyeon."


	20. Treat You Better

The atmosphere is strangely colder tonight even though summer is coming closer and closer. Despite putting a thick coat and a scarf, Sana still shudders at the wind around her, probably it's because of the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She is now walking to Mr. Kwon's Math class even though right now she just want to plop down on her sweet comfy bed and sleep the night away. She is walking as slow as possible, trying to make the walk from the cafe to the classroom as long as she physically can. If it was in one of those movies, people would think she looks like a zombie or one of the soulless corpses. As a door of the classroom draws closer, she sighs heavily and gives herself a mental pat on the back. "Two and a half more hours, then you can fuck it all and go home." Sana peeks through the door and a little bit of warmth find its way back to her body. Tzuyu is already there with the usual snacks and earphones plug in while she is doing her homework. Sana is glad she has the Taiwanese to accompany her during these classes, especially when Mina would never need any help in this subject. If Mina ever set foot in one of these extra classes, pigs would start climbing on trees. She chuckles lightly to herself and steps into the class, taking her seat beside Tzuyu.

"Hey." Tzuyu mutters quietly, still doesn't move her gaze from the Chemistry notebook. "Just let me finish this little thing here."

Sana manages a small nod, closes her eyes and leans her head on the wall behind her back. And just like that, all the thoughts come flooding back into her head, no matter how hard Sana tried to push them all away. She angrily bites the inside of one of her cheeks, trying to keep her tears at bay and she somewhat succeeds, the only thing slips out is a small sniff. She thanks her luck that Tzuyu decides to wear her earphones today, she doesn't want Tzuyu to know about this problem. While keeping her eyes close, she slips her hand inside her backpack to find some tissues. She quickly wipes her eyes and throws the tissue away just in time Mr. Kwon got to class.

"Hi class, where were we last time?" Mr. Kwon takes out his laptop and a few papers. "Tzuyu?" Tzuyu quickly removes her earphones. "Yes, Mr. Kwon?"

"These are for you and Sana, answer key for the stuff the other day and new ones." Tzuyu stands up to grab the papers. Sana glances over to Tzuyu's backpack and found her favorite shrimp crackers tucked inside. She shrugs to herself, takes the bag and starts munching.

"I see you have found my surprise for you today." Tzuyu comes back with a big smile on her face. "Something tells me you would love to eat that today. Guess I'm not wrong, Squirrel." Tzuyu reaches over and pokes Sana on the cheek, which is now puffed out because of the significant amount of crackers in her mouth. "Slow down a bit, I still got another pack in here."

Sana swallows the crackers and turns to Tzuyu. "Thanks Choo Choo."

Tzuyu smiles brightly. "For you, anything." Hearing that is the last line for Sana, she has been holding her emotions inside for too long and all of them just burst out. Tears start rolling down from her eyes which become puffy like an hour ago. She quickly turns away from Tzuyu but that's not fast enough for the tall girl. Tzuyu hastily holds Sana's shoulders and turns the Japanese around, eyes full of worry and panic. "Is it something I say, I'm really sorry! Please don't cry, oh no." Tzuyu lets go of Sana to take out a bunch of tissues from her backpack and start wiping Sana's tears. "Calm down, please. I'm sorry."

Sana can't manage to form words so she only shakes her head and reaches out to hold Tzuyu's wrist. She whispers hoarsely. "Just hold me." Tzuyu wastes no time and wraps Sana tightly in her arms, she doesn't care if they're in class, Sana needs her hug and that is what she is going to give. Sana is still sobbing on Tzuyu's shoulder while Tzuyu is rubbing small circles on Sana's back and whispering little things to reassure the crying girl. When she feels the sobbing subsides a little, Tzuyu slowly lets go and looks into Sana's eyes, trying to find some answers for herself.

"Let's just finish these papers then we can leave early." Tzuyu immediately understands what the other means. She stands up and walks to Mr. Kwon's desk. She comes back a few moments later and pack her bags. "Come, let's go, I'll take you home." She holds out her hand to Sana.

"Make a left right there." Sana points at the road.

"Eh? That's not your way home." Tzuyu curiously asks but makes the turn anyway.

"I'm not going home now. Wait here." Sana makes Tzuyu stop the car and walks into the convenience store. She steps out a few minutes later with two beer bottles in the bag. "We'll go to my corner to hide from the world."

After about twenty minutes, they arrive at a cliff overlooking the city. The view is absolutely breathtaking, lights from the buildings mixed with that from the vehicles driving back and forth on the streets. Sana pops open the bottles and hands Tzuyu one then they sit on the hood of Tzuyu's car. Sana is the one who starts. "I think you deserve to know what happened earlier."

Tzuyu doesn't say anything and keeps staring into her bottle then she mutters. "Take your time, I just wanna be here if you need."

"I love him, I think so. I don't know if I can use that word yet." Sana sighs heavily.

"Mark?"

Sana nods slowly. "I care about him a lot, I just sometimes want to know where he is because I miss him and I want a hug or something like that. I never want him to feel like he's being monitored by me or anything. I mean he's the same to me and I feel great about it, I feel like he cares for me. Sure, sometimes he's too much but I get his intentions."

"What happened today?"

"He says he can't take me to Mr. Kwon's class today, which is absolutely fine. I asked him whether he had any plans. He asked me why do I care and told me to fuck off. So I fuck off." Sana cries again and she angrily wipes her tears away. The two sit in silence after that, feeling the bitter taste of beer on the tip of their tongue and the cold breeze of the night. "Should I continue, Tzuyu?"

Tzuyu sighs. "I don't know and furthermore you should be the one to make that decision. But you gotta ask yourself is it worth it? If it doesn't, then stop. If it does, then try to make it right."

Sana scoots closer to Tzuyu and leans on the other girl's shoulder. "Thank you Tzuyu. Thanks for hearing me out."

"Like I said, anything." Tzuyu looks over to the girl on her shoulder and smile. There's no point lying to herself anymore, she loves Sana, maybe a little too much. There's a feeling rose in her gut when Sana cried earlier, she doesn't care what she has to do, she just wants to make Sana's pain and sorrow go away. Because, as weird as this sounds, Sana's bubbly energy is now her energy, the Squirrel acts a comforting presence in her life during the hectic days of her personal life. She wants to hold Sana in her arms, tell her everything is okay, Choo Choo is here and Choo Choo will treat you right. A single tear rolls down her cheeks and drops down to her jacket. That jacket is now wet with two different tears. But love is a sick game, in order to stop one of those two tears, one will still have to fall.


	21. I Have A Plan

The moment has come, the last subject in the last series of hellish tests in the first school year. Jihyo didn't realize how depressing that sentence sounds. Anyway, she is making her way to her homeroom, the good news is the whole class will be in the same room in the last test. But there is always a bad news. The last subject is History and no one studies for a History test. She now has her History book in her hands, trying to revise anything she can in the last minutes. When she arrives at the front of the homeroom, she is met the usual chaotic atmosphere. Everyone is frantically preparing for the test by revising and re-reading the materials, which will definitely not help. Mina is leaning on the railing while Momo hugging her from the back, both girls are keeping their eyes on the book in Mina's hands. Sometimes Jihyo is done with the PDA from those two but she is too tired to call out the gayness happening. Speaking of gayness, Jihyo feels like she's always third wheeling in her own class. The girls are either in love or lovesick and Jihyo is having none of that. She hasn't found anyone to be in love and she has been lovesick for too long she got out of it. Noticing her mind has drifted elsewhere, she shakes her head slightly to regain composure and turns back to the book.

"You're gonna be fine." Jihyo looks up at the voice in front of her. Seungwan looks incredibly relaxed and carefree for someone just complete the Math and Chemistry tests consecutively.

"What makes you so sure?" Jihyo raises her eyebrows at Seungwan. "It's easy for you, your memory is so good." Jihyo's voice is a bit irritated, there's seem to be another meaning in her words but Seungwan ignores it.

"I'm sure, because you're probably the only one who studies for this one." Seungwan raises a challenging eyebrow back at Jihyo. Suddenly, Yeri runs inside the room and starts yelling. "It's the boss. The boss will be the supervisor." It takes the girls a few moments to understand what she meant and when it hits them, panic is on everyone's face. They immediately huddle together.

"Alright, who hasn't learnt a word in this test?" Jihyo asks the girls. Almost all of them raise their hands, except for her, Mina, Joohyun and Rosie. Jihyo pinches the bridge of her nose and lets out a frustrated sigh. "What are your plans anyways?"

"Ask Mina." Momo says with a stoic face, like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"Well, you can't. It's the boss. You'd better come up with something and do it fast."

"I got notes." Jisoo whispers. "But do anyone else have it?"

The girls collectively shake their heads. "Better be prepared to pass that note. We're lucky the test is in multiple choice questions." Joohyun grits her teeth.

Seungwan buts in. "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on? What do you mean by the boss?"

"Ms. Kim Taeyeon. Don't be deceived by her looks, she's probably a serial killer or something. She has claimed so many victims just for discussing in tests. And her eyes, don't get me started." Rosie says hastily while scanning through her book one more time.

"Here she comes." Chaeyoung peeks out through the window.

"Hi girls. Please step out of the room, I need to arrange your seats then we can proceed with the test." Ms. Taeyeon says with a sweet smile on her face but if you look into her eyes, you won't find any emotions whatsoever. The girls shudder and rush out of the room.

"I just remember something." Jeongyeon speaks up. "Dahyun and Chaeyoung has purple and green hair. They are gonna draw a hell lot of attention."

"Well, yeah. It's a bit too late for that now, isn't it?" Nayeon furrows her brows when she sees the seats. Ms. Taeyeon somehow puts Jihyo, Rosie, Mina and Joohyun on the front, successfully isolates the only four who learn anything. The girls go into their designated seats and wait for the bell.

"It's the last test now, how have your exams been?" Ms. Taeyeon starts to make some small talk. Well, not really good. Math was surprisingly but Chemistry is literally from hell and come to think of it, Ms. Taeyeon is a Chemistry teacher and the test is probably written by her. Jihyo answers for the class. "I hope it's decent, Ms. Taeyeon. This is the toughest one though." Ms. Taeyeon just simply smiles and starts handing out the tests

15 minutes into the test and Jisoo has already finished thanks to her notes. Now she has the tough task of passing it to the others. The four on the front row are also nearly done and Mina occasionally turns around to help Momo. Mina is positive that Ms. Taeyeon caught her immediately but she remains calm because she hasn't made a move to stop her. Lisa is growing impatient because Rosie turns into a scaredy cat every time she's in a test room and Lisa still hasn't finished half of her test. Jisoo immediately passes the note in front of her to the Thai girl while keeping an eye on Ms. Taeyeon. Jihyo feels like she's in the middle of a standoff, her friends are either waiting for help or Jisoo's notes and Ms. Taeyeon is glancing around the room. No one is actually making a move, not until Seungwan stands up from her desk.

"Excuse Ms. Taeyeon, can I go to the restroom for a little?"

"Yeah sure, hand me your answer sheet first." Ms. Taeyeon holds out her hand and gestures Seungwan to the restroom. Seungwan passes by Jihyo's desk and knocks twice lightly on it, signalling Jihyo that she has a plan. Then she struts out of the room. Jihyo glances around and sees the notes have been passed to the next person, Jeongyeon, who is also helping Nayeon. Seungwan returns to the room a few minutes later, looking as casual as ever. Jihyo turns to the girl and mouths 'What's your plan?'. Seungwan just simply raises three fingers and starts counting down, when she finishes, they hear a voice from the door.

"Tae Tae, can you help me with something?" Jihyo smiles internally knowing that cavalry has come. Throughout the year, Jihyo has only seen Ms. Taeyeon smile genuinely once and it's towards Ms. Tiffany, her best friend.

"Sure, what's the problem?" Ms. Taeyeon stands up from her seat and follows Ms. Tiffany out of the classroom. The girls see their chance and immediately ask each other to finish the test, Jeongyeon is about to pass the note to the next person in the progress, Sana. Everything seems to be going great, there's 10 minutes until the end of the test and the only one who hasn't finished is Yeri. Unfortunately, Ms. Taeyeon comes back sooner than they expected and Sana hasn't been able to pass the notes. The room goes completely silent, Sana inhales deeply and looks to Yeri. Sana is about to pass the notes but Sana being Sana, she drops the paper on the floor with a loud sound. Yeri and Sana quickly turn back to their answer sheets, avoiding the gaze of Ms. Taeyeon. Sana looks up to be met by Mina's eyes. The penguin gestures Sana to stay calm while the other Japanese slowly mouths 'I'm sorry'. Ms. Taeyeon slowly walks to the paper and picks it up to read what's inside. She hands it over to Yeri and leans down to whisper in the girl's ear. "Germany attacked Poland at the start of the war, not Sweden."

Yeri stares back at Ms. Taeyeon in shock and so are the other girls. Ms. Taeyeon just smirks and walks back to her desk. "Five minutes, recheck your answers."

The test ends and they walk out of the room, cheering and hugging each other for completing the last test of the year. "What the hell happened back there?" Momo asks Yeri and Sana.

"She caught us but she helped me correct the answer, don't ask me why, I don't know." Yeri throws her hands in the air while laughing, she certainly enjoys the surprise.

"But why did Ms. Tiffany suddenly appear?"

Seungwan smirks proudly and points at herself. "Thanks to my genius plan. Just look at them, Ms. Tiffany is definitely the kryptonite, Ms. Taeyeon seems to have a soft spot for her and I exploit it." Seungwan nudges Jihyo's side with her elbow while wiggling her eyebrows.

"What do you want?" Jihyo retorts but has a smile on her face.

"You know what I want."

Jihyo rolls her eyes. "My hero!" Jihyo says with her aegyo then quickly grimaces.

The girls laugh and slowly make their way down to the schoolyard. Seungwan falls into step with Jihyo. "Kinda lucky you knew what I meant when I knocked on the desk."

"I mean that's pretty obvious. Besides, you never go the restroom at school anyways."

"Heh, you're right. I need a coffee or a beer." Seungwan chuckles. "Wanna join me?"

"Sorry, I'm pretty tired. Next time?" Jihyo excuses herself.

"Sure, no problem."

Meanwhile, Nayeon is gathering Momo, Rosie and Tzuyu around. "Hey, I have a plan."

"What is it? Anytime but tonight, I'm tired." Tzuyu ruffles her hair.

"How about us going to a bar? It's been a while since the four of us hang out together."

"Sure, tomorrow?" Momo quickly perks up, excited for anything involves dancing.

"Tomorrow it is then." The girls walk out of the school, ready for some quality time for themselves before jumping into preparing for the concert.

_In the teacher's room_

Taeyeon quickly puts away the stack of tests on her arms and plops down on the couch. She closes her eyes and leans back, trying to get some rest when something cold touches her cheek.

"Here, your drink." Tiffany smiles down at her and hands her a Coca Cola.

"Thanks."

"Why did you let them off?" Tiffany smirks and asks Taeyeon.

"You're asking me that now? They resort to getting you to distract me, they're clearly desperate, I don't want to be considered a monster." Taeyeon chuckles and sips her drink.

"Are you sure you didn't do that for me? You know I love those kids. Tae Tae is a secret softie." Tiffany pinches her best friend's cheek and runs away.

"Yah, you get back here Tiffany." Taeyeon follows her friend out of the room. Little do they know, a certain girl has seen everything and taken a picture with her cell phone.

"Aish, Ms. Taeyeon, even I can see you like her." Joohyun chuckles to herself and puts her phone away.


	22. Girls Night Out

Rosie is standing in front of her house, waiting for Nayeon to come pick her up for their group's night out. She is having a sparkly gold dress on, a dress that she saves for a suitable occasion. What can be more fitting than a party at a new bar after a hectic school year? About the location of the place, well, Nayeon refuses to share that information with everyone. Having grown impatient of waiting, Rosie dials Nayeon's number on her phone.

"Where are you? We're gonna be late." Rosie taps her foot hastily.

Nayeon chuckles loudly. "Honey, it's 6. Just so you know, we're gonna be out pretty late tonight. And hold on, we are picking Tzuyu up." Rosie hangs up and takes a seat on the bench. Soon enough, two cars pull up in front of her house. Momo and Tzuyu are in one car, Nayeon pokes her head out from the other. "Come on, let's go princess." Rosie quickly hops in to the passenger's seat and Nayeon drives away with Momo following close behind. Nayeon wolf whistles while looking at Rosie. "Nice dress. You can be the second most beautiful girl tonight."

"Really, who's number one?" Rosie asks Nayeon. The bunny just simply raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Ugh, forget I ask. Where exactly are we going anyway?"

"I found this place on Instagram, it's probably the hottest bar right now and I got reservations already. Wow, I didn't realize I sound so formal."

After a short drive, they arrive at a bar named YKW located at the busiest district of Seoul. A long line of people can be seen along the sidewalk. Rosie has to admit, she's impressed that Nayeon managed to book a table at a place like this. "What does YKW stand for anyway?" Momo scratches her head.

"Why do we care anyway, right? If this place is good, then it's fine." Tzuyu shrugs while stepping out of the car. This is the first time tonight that Rosie has a clear look at Tzuyu.

"A suit? Seriously, Tzuyu?"

"What? I think it looks great." Tzuyu looks at her grey suit while smiling. "I don't wear dresses anyway."

"Watch it. The girls are gonna all over her in the bar." Nayeon walks past them towards the bouncer.

"I have a reservation under Im Nayeon." The bouncer checks his list and lets the girls in. Nayeon leads them to a booth in the corner. The bar looks really posh, probably too much for Rosie but she'll let time be the judge of that. There's a DJ booth, a bar filled with every drinks she can think of and finally one big dance floor in the middle. Right now, there's only a handful of people dancing but she's sure as the night goes on, the dancing will get way more wild and possibly dirty. It doesn't take long after they are seated when Nayeon stands up to get drinks. "What do girls want?"

"I'll take whatever. Just not too strong." Tzuyu shrugs while eyeing the dance floor.

"So, tequila shots." Nayeon nods and points at Momo.

Momo shakes her head. "No, no. We'll start slow."

"Like I said, tequila." Nayeon turns to Rosie.

"Not tequila." Rosie deadpans.

"Definitely tequila. I'll be right back." Nayeon walks to the bar without another word. Rosie turns to Momo. "What's up with that?"

Momo snickers. "I don't even know. Just let her order that, we'll enjoy ourselves tonight. I think we all deserve it." Nayeon returns to the table a few minutes later, carrying four shot glasses and a huge bottle of tequila. A part of Rosie tells her that it's gonna be fine but the other half tells her to stand up, run and call for help immediately. She looks around and sees her three friends are laughing and joking around so she shrugs off her uneasy feelings and joins them.

_Three hours later_

'I should have called for help.' Rosie sighs and looks at her friend. They are now at the fourth bottle of tequila, Nayeon and Momo are completely hammered, Tzuyu is holding on to whatever is left of her sanity and Rosie is debating how she is gonna get these three in the car to go home later tonight. Speaking of worried, Rosie just realizes that her three friends haven't eaten anything the whole night, their stomach is full of alcohol. While herself has gone through possibly ten shrimp cocktails. She is now worried about the well-being of the group and their budget, the bill is going to be nightmare fuel.

"Like I said, I'd date anyone right now. I feel so fucking lonely." Nayeon returns after her restroom break.

"Just hang on, Nayeon. You'll find someone sooner and later. Look at me, I'm fine all by myself." Rosie says simply while munching her shrimp.

"That's easy for you to say. You're opposite to me. Someone is falling for you Rosie." Nayeon gulps down another tequila shot. "You know what, I have an idea. Each of us will say a sentence describing our love life at the same time. Okay? One, two, three."

"I want her to like me."

"I wish I didn't love her."

"I'm incredibly happy."

"I don't know what to do."

All eyes turn to Tzuyu, then Nayeon and then Rosie. Nayeon pulls out another tequila bottle out of nowhere and starts pouring. "Why don't you start, Tzuyu?"

Tzuyu takes a sip of her drink, first time feeling the stinging sensation of the alcohol in her throat. "He doesn't treat her right but she still wants to be with him. I can feel my inner self shatter into pieces that time I saw her cry. I want to hug her tight and comfort her. But it kills me to know that the person in her heart will never be me." Tzuyu sobs quietly and downs the rest of her drink. "Sometimes I wish I didn't care that much. I tried but somehow I always need to see her, to see her voice, to feel her warmth." Tzuyu sniffs and wipes her tears.

"Now I feel a little more lucky." Nayeon speaks slowly, obviously drunk. "I like Jeongyeon, a lot. I can't tell if she feels the same or not. As you guys can see, I'm drinking to forget this feelings. But that's not helping apparently. Somehow I even think about her more, something tells me she would love this place despite it being so loud." Nayeon chuckles bitterly. "I don't want anyone else, I want her." Nayeon leans her head on Tzuyu's shoulder while sobbing, the taller girl doesn't flinch like usual but instead pats Nayeon's head slowly.

Momo and Rosie exchange worried glances, they know that Nayeon and Tzuyu have something on their mind the whole time but they didn't know it hurts them that much. They look at the bottles of tequila and shot glasses sprawl across the table and completely understand why Nayeon acts so wild tonight. They have never seen her breakdown in front of them like that, Nayeon have always been the strongest one in the group, the one for them to lean on shall anything happen.

"How about you Rosie?" After a long moment, Momo turns to Rosie. "You said something about you don't know what to do? What did Lisa do?"

Rosie downs her glass, her first glass of the night. "Well, she didn't do anything and that's the whole thing. I think she's interested in me and we had a bet on her Math scores, if it's good enough, I would let her take me out on a date. And as things stand, we're definitely going out."

"That's great, I mean, you like her right?"

"That's another thing. She's very sweet and she makes me laugh a lot and I feel safe with her, you know. But I'm so uncertain about my feelings, I don't know if that was love or not. I don't want to hurt her, she's my best friend. Aside from you three, of course." Rosie stares into her glass, doubting herself.

"We're all figuring things out here, Rosie. Lisa is a great girl, I can see how she treats you. I think you should go on the date, enjoy yourself and don't overthink. Trust your heart, I can see you are very important to Lisa, she's not gonna let you go just because you don't like her back." Momo pats Rosie's shoulder. Nayeon reaches over the table and holds Rosie's hand while Tzuyu gives her a small smile.

"Why do you guys still comfort me while you are having bigger problems?" Rosie is about to cry again.

"Oh no. Don't cry. That's what we do, we look out for each other." Nayeon assures the sobbing girl.

"Okay, enough. We're here to have fun, right. I'm going to hit the dance floor, feel free to join me, okay?" Momo stands up and walks to the dance floor, where the party is going strong. They dance together for an hour with Momo being the main attraction of the whole bar, people chanting her name and challenging her to dance battle. After an hour of dancing non-stop, Rosie and Tzuyu walk back to their table to rest, leaving Momo and Nayeon on the dance floor, still full of energy.

"Oh God, look at Nayeon. After that much tequila and she's still going." Tzuyu chuckles while massaging her feet

"I'm just glad she's having fun or maybe she's too drunk now." Rosie shakes her head, feeling a little dizzy. "Tzu, I'm going to the restroom for a little. Watch the bags for me." Tzuyu nods and leans her head back.

Pushing the door of the restroom open, Rosie is immediately hit with a disgusting smell. "Ugh, I don't even to know, this place has just opened, why does it even smell like this. Freaking club toilets." She pinches her nose and slowly pushes open one of the stalls. 'Please don't be having sex. Please don't be having sex.' She narrows her eyes and starts praying in her head. She breaths a sigh of relief and gets inside when she finds out the stall is empty. As she is washing her hands, the restroom door opens revealing one of her friends from school. "Hey, Yongsun."

"Oh hi, Rosie, are you here with your friends?" Yongsun smiles brightly and waves back.

"Yeah, you too?" Yongsun nods and starts washing her face.

"I'm trying to stay sober to get those crackheads home. They're all hammered and I'm thinking how to get them to the car." Yongsun chuckles.

"Tell me about it. We're on our fifth bottle now and I'm losing my sanity." They step out of the restroom slowly, trying to get back to their friends.

"Fifth? We're on the fourth only and they all passed out. I'm-" Yongsun is interrupted by a voice from the DJ booth.

"How are you all feeling tonight? MC Rail in the house!" Rosie follows Yongsun's gaze and sees Nayeon at the booth with a microphone. The crowds cheers loudly and starts dancing. Momo runs up to the booth and starts grinding on Nayeon. Rosie looks to her table and sees Tzuyu asleep, mouth hanging open.

"You should call for help." Yongsun says and runs to her table, hoping her friends aren't out of control. Rosie opens Tzuyu's bag and sighs when she sees four phones tucked safely inside. She pulls out her phone and finds a quiet corner. The person picks up after a few rings.

"Lisa! Thank God you're awake. I need your help!"


	23. Get Help

Lisa is scrolling through her Twitter feed before bed when her phone suddenly rings with a call from Rosie. She checks the clock and sees that it is nearly midnight. When she picks up, she is met by the thumping sound of loud music mixed with Rosie's voice saying some incoherent things.

"Where are you Chaeng? I can't hear you." She holds the phone a bit further from her ear, the music is too loud at this time for her. "Uh huh, so you're with Tzuyu, Nayeon and Momo? Where are you?"

"YKW bar. The new bar in the city center, look it up." Rosie yells in the phone, hoping it can overpower the thumping music.

"I don't know where that is. I'll ask someone, okay? Hang in there. I'll be there as fast as I can." Lisa puts her phone on speaker and throws on some clothes. "Hold on, how many cars do you have there? Okay, I'll ask some people to help." The call disconnects and Lisa starts searching the place on her phone.

"Oh wow. No wonder it's so loud." She starts pacing around her room, trying to come up with people to call. "Nayeon, Momo and Tzuyu. Right!"

The person on the other line picks up immediately. "This better be something good. I'm in a ranked match Manoban."

"No time, Jeongyeon. I need your help, Rosie and her group are at a club named YKW downtown. I'm gonna help her pick the other three up, they're completely drunk." Lisa speaks fast like rapping while running downstairs to get her car keys.

Jeongyeon sits up in her bed. "Wait, you said YKW? Shit, I'll be there. Stop by my house first and pick me up. I'll call Mina as well, we need her to drag Momo out of there."

"Okay, I'll be there in 10." Lisa steps into her car and zooms away.

Lisa pulls up in front of Jeongyeon's house while the other is on the phone. "Yeah, we'll see you there in 15. Okay, sorry."

Jeongyeon hops in the passenger seat. "Mina's not happy that I wake her up at this time. Momo is done. Let's go."

Lisa and Jeongyeon arrive at the bar a while later and Rosie is waiting for them outside. Lisa quickly steps out of the car. "Hey, are you OK? You seem a little tense on the phone."

"Just a little headache. I'm fine. Let's go get them." Rosie waves for them to follow her.

"Hold on, we're waiting for someone else." Jeongyeon holds her hand up. As if on cue, a car pulls up next to them and a furious Mina steps out. She runs over to the other door and knocks on it hastily. "Come on, come on."

The other door opens revealing Sana, who is rubbing her eyes while yawning. "Jesus, chill Mina. You wake me up, now I won't remember what I was dreaming about." Sana glares at her friend.

"What's Sana doing here?" Rosie is now confused.

"She'll take Tzuyu home, I'll take Momo and I figure Jeongyeon takes Nayeon and you're with Lisa." Mina sorts out the plan within seconds.

"Okay, that's cool. I'll go in there anyway. You can wait in my car." Lisa takes off her jacket and puts it on Rosie. "Oh and by the way, you look great." Lisa winks and follows Jeongyeon into the bar.

"Where did Rosie say their table at?" Mina stands on her toes to look around the place but she can't see anything but shadows and flashing lights.

"In the corner. She said Tzuyu's sleeping there." Jeongyeon says.

Mina reaches in her pocket and hands Sana her car keys. "Here, take my car and get Tzuyu home. I'll take Momo's."

"Go with her Lisa, I'll take Nayeon's car. If that bunny still knows where her house is." Jeongyeon adds and follows Mina.

Sana and Lisa reaches the table and sees Tzuyu sleeping, snoring softly while her mouth's hanging open. Sana tries to drag Tzuyu up while Lisa takes the handbags. Sana stumbles trying get Tzuyu to walk and ends up falling face first with Tzuyu on top of her. Lisa turns around when she hears a thud and she is met by one of the funniest thing she has ever seen. Tzuyu is still asleep after all that, well, because she landed on Sana's back.

"Lisa, help." Sana calls out from under Tzuyu. Lisa quickly drags Tzuyu by the arm and drapes it over her shoulder with Sana on the other side. Lisa texts Jeongyeon about the handbags then helps Sana walks the drunk Yoda outside.

Meanwhile, Mina and Jeongyeon have separated to find their assigned target. At a place like this, Mina knows exactly where to find her girlfriend so she walks straight into the dance floor and she is not disappointed. She finds Momo dancing with her eyes closed in the middle of a circle with another person opposite her, probably in one of her dance battles. Mina gathers all of her might and calls. "HIRAI MOMO!"

Momo immediately stops dancing and grimaces, hands immediately cover her face. She can recognize her girlfriend's voice anywhere and that volume doesn't mean good news for her. Mina puts her hands on her hips and walks into the circle. People quickly make a path as Mina walks through. Momo still refuse to move an inch and accepts whatever punishment is coming for her. Mina stops beside her girlfriend and pulls Momo's hands down. "Open your eyes."

Momo slowly opens her eyes and comes face to face with an angry Mina, who is putting on a mean face with her hands on her hips. Momo is feeling both scared and cute at the same time. Mina's so called mean face involves widened eyes and puffed out cheeks, which is pretty close to her pouty face that Momo really loves. She really wants to kiss Mina right on the spot and Momo being Momo, a random thought is enough to drive her actions. She closes her eyes and leans in but her lips are met by Mina's finger.

"What are you doing?" Mina raises her eyebrow.

"Kissing my girlfriend?" Momo smiles and gives Mina her puppy eyes, which by the way, always work on Mina, most of the time, at least. Mina is genuinely swayed, she's actually thinking about kissing back. But being Myoui Mina, she won't give in that easily. Instead, she reaches up and pinches Momo's ear.

"Ow, Ow, Ow. I'm sorry Minari." Momo pouts and starts pleading. Mina is dangerous when she's angry and also hot if Momo may add.

"What did I tell you?"

"Don't get too drunk and get into trouble. But I didn't get into trouble." Momo pouts and shakes Mina's arm. Mina drags her by the ear towards the door. "Give me your car keys, we'll talk on the way." Momo knows she's not gonna win this argument so she stays silent and reluctantly follows her girlfriend out of the place.

Seeing the commotion on the dance floor, Jeongyeon figures that Mina has already found Momo so she's the last one to find her target. She's asking herself if she's a drunk and hyper high school student, where would she be. Her answer, the DJ booth, but to her surprise, Nayeon isn't there so she asks the DJ if he saw a drunk girl with bunny teeth and he says she went to the bar for a drink. At the bar, she sees Nayeon sitting alone, nursing a glass of tequila. The place is crowded so Jeongyeon has to muscle her way to Nayeon but when she gets near, she sees some guy approaching Nayeon. She can't hear what he is saying but Nayeon looks extremely uncomfortable and trying to withdraw her arm from the guy's touch. Jeongyeon stomps her foot and marches toward Nayeon. She puts her arm around the other girl's shoulders and looks at the guy. "Sorry, she's taken." It doesn't take long for the guy to scurry away, leaving Nayeon alone. Nayeon turns to Jeongyeon with half-lidded eyes.

"Thanks for saving me, but sorry I'm interested in someone else." Jeongyeon quickly removes her arm and starts questioning herself. She is completely sure that she heard Nayeon right in the garden that day. She takes a seat next to Nayeon and turns to the drunk girl. "Who are they, if I may ask?"

"She's my classmate. Tall, handsome, yeah, you heard me right, handsome. Sometimes I can't tell if she likes to be my friend or not. We bicker quite a lot, but I just want to tease her, I really like her, probably she doesn't feel the same." Jeongyeon stares at Nayeon dumb-founded, she didn't think she comes up that aggressive to Nayeon. That's kinda her problem, she has never been good with expressing her emotions or feelings and she feels a bit uncomfortable being cling on and all that but she loves Nayeon's presence, the bunny's energy balance out her tough exterior and brings out a softer side of her. Jeongyeon has been trying to find a good time to talk to Nayeon but she always chickens out at the last minute. Well, the club is not a good place for this kind of talk anyways. She pokes Nayeon's cheek to wake the other girl up.

"Come on, wake up, I'll take you home. Where are your car keys?" Nayeon reaches into her pocket with closed eyes and just hands Jeongyeon the keys. Jeongyeon wonders if Rosie didn't call them today, would she give away her car keys that easily. She carries Nayeon and walks her to the car. "Where is your house bunny?" Jeongyeon turns to the passenger seat and sees Nayeon fast asleep. She sighs and drives away.

"My house it is then. Let's hope you won't freak out in the morning."

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work here, it's not very good but I hope you'll support me and this story.  
Leave a comment if you have any opinion about it.  
Have a nice day, readers.


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